Mass Effect Degradation: The Values of Organic Life
by Narcrotic
Summary: -Remastered Edition- There isn't any alternative to Hope, Strength, or Courage. But Survival? That's Optional. Prequel to Mass Effect Trepidation: Superlative Acquisition. Tali/Shepard Pairing.
1. A Dream

******_UPDATE: 12/7/2012_**

******_They are more songs on my playlist. Go to them and please listen. I didn't work my butt off for people not to listen with their ears!_**

_**(Note: The story will be slow for the first two chapters. But I guarantee you, it'll get better. Plenty of fluff and dialogue. You'll get your Tali fix here, friends.)**_

**A/N**: Finally, after writing for nearly a year, I've completed MED:TVOL. Over that course, I've been composing music for you all to listen too while you read.

Here is the playlist: **www.(S)(O)(U)(N)(D)(C)(L)(O)(U)(D).com**

Add with a forward slash after the URL:** nicholas-powell-2/sets/mass-effect-degradation-the**

[I had to space them out...our HTML format doens't like actual URL's

**Bitter sweet** is the first song.

**Trepidation** is the second for this chapter!

I will add more as the story progresses!

_Also, I slaved over this project, Reviews are really my **lifeline **here. :) So please leave a comment to show your support!_

* * *

-Mass Effect Degradation: The Value of Organic Life

_Remastered Edition_

* * *

**|CHAPTER 1|**

**|Date: 12/6/2183|**

**|Location: SSV Normandy/Frigate Class Vessel|**

**|Alliance Command CCEDF Number: 33DEFZE9-87541JSN|**

* * *

The Quarian dreams that she is human.

Her sauntered steps meander across the corridor's broken floor into the dimly lit street; her imaginary realm wandering into a distant abyss; a sea of wonderment inundated with an insatiable desire to understand her perplexing wonder of imagination. Her attention gyrates to reveal her left flank, her jaded interest fixating on a doorway centered at a structure's median, its contours besieged by a lamp's low lumens that shimmered against the light pelting of rain.

Approaching the aged entrance, she developed an assiduous urge to knock lightly on the door's metal frame. Before doing so, she noticed the extra digits on her hand. Inspecting the appendages, she moved each one carefully, her brows furrowing from the aromatic experience. She tapped at the wooden finish negligently, waiting for a retort of footsteps to welcome her.

Her knocks go unanswered, and with little more than a second thought, she pried the dusted door cautiously, the hinges contesting the rust that molded along its worn metal skin.

Inside, her bare feet kiss the padded flooring, the air warm and welcoming; the smell of sweet vanilla and cinnamon caressing her nose with warming ecstasy. Her condensed breath elevates toward the ceiling, despite the homely warmth the interior invites. A mirror is presented before her; a human face staring back at her envious complexion. Beauty firmly grasped her probing gaze when her delirious covet values the flowing brown hair, hazel eyes, small nose, and pursing lips. The desire intensified, so she turned away before she would litter the floor with imperfections of her counterpart. A whisper crawls into her ear, calling her name with an elated echo.

"Tali…" The disembodied voice, entombed within the confines of a dreamy morass, spoke timidly across the darkened corridor. The resonating murmur is closely accompanied with the tangible figure of hospitality…

but…

A hollow pit of trepidation intimately nestled within the woman's apprehensive stomach.

The untiring urge to stay protracts under her better judgment, the superfluous resistance protesting its pointless futility.

"Tali…" the predicated tenor intensifies until the reiteration taxes her curiosity to capacity. It captivates her thirst for knowledge, the echoing partitions tugging at her eager disposition farther into the cavernous walls.

"_Tali_!" The voice, once potent with godlike reverberations, becomes compressed through an intercom…a voice the Quarian recognized…

…_all too well._

_Ashley Williams._

Tali awakened, her hands already meeting her face to itch and scratch like one does when they wake from dreamful sleep.

"Come on and get out, we're meeting up together in 30 minutes." The intercom's electrical clamor permeated the human's voice.

The speaker's fluctuating static disgorged an innumerable sum of sour notes into the Quarian's sensitive ear.

"I'll be out soon enough." The Quarian garbled as her eyes look to her covered feet.

She wears nothing but the loosely bound clothes and a breathing apparatus for the night.

In no small part to her weakened immune system, she was housed in the safety of the Normandy's clean room, repurposed to suit her needs.

In doing so, the living space she used _contested_ the size of the captain's quarters.

Although she adored the living space—

—it still felt…_overly_ luxurious…

...Something that was held in reservation for a Captain or an officer... in spite of her people's rather _illustrious_ condition.

Shepard cogitated when she came aboard, that if she were not quartered properly, she would have to stay inside the suit the entire campaign against Saren and the Geth.

Moreover the obvious necessity, and the ever more insistent Commander, she was left only with the option of housing the small cabin.

Excitedly, she let the clothes slide off her body and stepped into the shower, her feet pressing against the floor's cold metal curvature.

Pressed for time, she cleaned herself, and dried off before approaching the mannequin that wore her life-giving clothing.

The dispiriting necessity kept her healthy and alive; yet…the concept _despised_ her. She _needed_ it; otherwise…

…she'd be occupying her time with rehabilitation therapy…

…For _pneumonia_.

A diluted grip of jealousy swathed her spellbound heart, spilling the already empty wish of hope that one day she'd breathe unfiltered air like nature intended.

"What a shame." A pensive murmur left her lips before slipping her naked body back into her prison.

**…**

Her boot buckles lock into place before lifting herself from the bed to fashion the unique clothing around her body.

The final touch was latching a sheath to her curved calve before gripping the exterior fold of her visor. Another sigh managed to pass through her frown before she placed the protective seal over her face; the fastenings severing the intimate integration of her cabin's filtered air.

As with any day she put on her suit, she eyed the mirror to make needed adjustments when mistakes were made. Seeing none, her spark of pride intensified into something as far as an ego: a proud Quarian; one that helped defeat the Geth and Sovereign on the Citadel. The self-seeking reflection had died down when she turned to the door of her room.

"This is it, Tali girl. This is it." She muttered breathlessly when her hand smacked the panel of the door.

**…**

The ground team gathered their numbers to assemble at the Normandy's heart, its center housing a conference table for debriefings.

The Quarian, much to her surprise, found herself only with the company of Urdnot Wrex as he heaved a groan of disdain when displacing his weight on the burdened human chair.

A tasteless snicker escaped through Tali; earning an apprehensive eye from Wrex, one bad enough to bitter any diplomatic relationship with a Council race.

Despite the dour expression the Krogan emulated, his posture indicated nothing less than a dusted smile and welcoming heart; the big dinosaur had surreptitiously respected everyone aboard the Normandy, even the Turian: Garrus Vakarian.

Ashley Williams had arrived, her snarky aptitude already gravitating toward the Quarian.

"You were putting on the suit, weren't you?"

"I don't have to do my hair or makeup. That's the only upside, Ash." Her hands crossed onto the table when she turned to speak to the Gunnery Sergeant.

"This thing is a pain to put in a bun. Trust me, hun; stick with the suit." She quirked with a feeble scoff.

Garrus approached from behind Tali before making his way to sit across from her.

"You enjoy the eggs, Garrus?" Ashley leaned into the chair, her smile intensifying as she eyed the flustered Turian.

"The _hell_ I did. They weren't green last week. How long will it be before you _kill_ me?" His face, chiseled with an icy stare, leveled off before relieving his attention to meander elsewhere.

The Krogan's labored groan, taxed by their senseless bickering, flared against his short-tempered patience.

Despite the amusing backbiting between Ashley and Garrus, the actual weight that could carry from making a mistake in her jokes could prove _quite_ detrimental to the Turian's health.

"Where's Liara?" Tali asked to no one in particular.

"Right here." Liara smiled with a curt wave to everyone before taking a seat adjacent to the large Krogan.

"Did I miss anything?" She asked, her smile never wavering.

"We're still waiting for Shepard." Tali shrugged nonchalantly, elbow propped on the table to fumble with her recently cleaned veil.

"He'll be here soon." Garrus' hand rose to scratch his mandible before rubbing the back of his neck. He wasn't wearing armor, but Turian crewman clothing similar to that of the Human Alliance service fatigues; despite the obvious difference in physiology.

Her eyes wandered downwards to fixate on her own long legs; reminding herself that she was serving on an alien ship herself: a _Human_ one. She was…similar to a human; but not similar enough to not notice distinct differences. For one, her feet only had two long clawed toes, her hands consisting of two thick fingers and one opposable thumb…not to mention the inward curve of her humans' equivalent of a tibia.

Tali's imagination attempted to compose a notion of what human extremities would be like: the idea of having two extra toes and fingers. The thoughts spliced her attention when Shepard entered the premises.

She looked to him with pressing anticipation…watching every move with careful inspiration; soaking in the details like a sponge would with water. He stood for a moment, his mind already composing an orchestra of words to spill across the table.

"It was an honor, my friends…to serve beside you when no one else in the galaxy would." The commander swallowed hard, finding more words on a seconds notice. "I never could have accomplished any feat without you standing at my side. You have all sacrificed, supported, and leaned on another at the call of duty; and for that, I've been represented on behalf of the Council and Alliance Navy with SPECTRE authority to present you the highest decoration of honor my people can give: The Medal of Honor."

The team rose from their seats, the military of the group snapping to attention.

"We'll keep this informal, as I had requested. For heroism is something foreign to us." He finished when he put down the small metal box he held.

"Gunnery Sergeant Ashley Williams, Step forward." She did as she was ordered.

"I present upon you a decoration that has carried forward for hundreds of years, since the creation of the United States of America. Gunnery Sergeant, you have distinguished yourself through conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of your life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in action against Saren and the Geth; an enemy of the Citadel Council and the Alliance Navy." He placed the sheath around her neck, the medal emblazed with the Alliance insignia surrounded by the 5 points of a star.

"Suspended Captain Garrus Vakarian, please step forward." Shepard's composure quivered when Garrus' mandibles gawked at an odd angle when he marched in front of him.

"I haven't heard that rank in a long time, Commander." Garrus whispered.

Shepard repeated the speech with slight alterations, stepping all the way down the line until Tali was the only one left.

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, please step forward." A warm and welcoming smile surfaced when she stepped up to the plate. A thousand thoughts raced through Tali's mind as their proximity closed.

"I bestow upon you the proudest decoration my people can ever give. Tali…" He let the words hang for a moment. "You have distinguished yourself through evident bravery and intrepidity at the almost certain risk of your life above and beyond the call of duty while engaging in action against the Geth and Saren; an enemy of the Citadel Council and Alliance Navy. You have accomplished so much, Tali." She shivered from nervous delight as his hands brushed the sides of her plated face to position her Medal of Honor. "I am _so_ proud of you." He finished with a crisp salute, of which she had returned.

"You are all dismissed." The group slowly disbanded, leaving only Tali left hunching over in hesitation.

"Shepard…If I could have a word with you in private?"

"Of course Tali—" His voice saturated her heart with tender pleasure. "—I'm right here."

The two lonesome figures wait until the cabin doors close behind the last of the group.

"Shepard? Thank you…for everything. You've given me _so_ much. Some deeds of which I will never get to repay you for..."

There were no feelings of embarrassment, only words that she felt needed to be said and heard.

Shepard stared intently, his eyes soft and welcoming. Finally, she threw her arms at him, wrapping around his neck feverishly.

They held the embrace for an extensive period of time, in hopes the close exchange of affection would never come to an end. Eventually, and reluctantly, she let go, their hands slipping off each other as they separated.

"You've done enough by helping me defeat Saren. That's _all_ I care about. Thank you." He placed a hand on her shoulder before placing an affectionate hand along her wrist. "I'll see you later today, okay? I've got some work to do." He held the gaze with an outward smile before stepping off into the exit with another murmured good-bye. Her careful stare withheld until the doors finally close behind him.

Their time spent together was overwhelming…and the bond that grew from what once could be considered a misconception…it was _overpowering_. She…she knew there was something there…or at least she thought she did…

…whether or not—the feeling was…_ehrm_…reciprocal…

No…no, no.

Her mind pushed from the debacle of thinking and relaxed. She released the breath she had held, satisfaction evident in her posture when she fell back into the chair to recline on.

Finding it appropriate, she began to reminisce.

* * *

**A/N**: And that's the first installment! The story so far is a little boring at first, but I need to set up the characters. It'll get interesting. :) Trust me.

Next chapter, we delve into a Tali's reminiscing! Next chapter will be on Wednesday! :D


	2. Reminisce

**This section reminisces over Tali's adventure right before Feros. (This is what she is reminiscing about, and will continue for another 1 1/2 more sections before getting back on track.) **

* * *

_**|Three months prior…|**_

**|Date: 9/13/2183|**

**|Location: SSV Normandy/Frigate Class Vessel|**

**|Alliance Command CCEDF Number: 33DEFZE9-87541JSN|**

* * *

"Commander…I don't know…It's just…I _can't_…I'm busy." Her hands danced amongst themselves questioningly when she spoke.

"Really now?" Shepard exhaled playfully as his arms cross his chest, a smile revealing his incisors. "_That's_ an excuse."

She stuttered.

"I'm serious! I'm _busy_!" Her hands met her side and let her brows do the speaking for her…

…not that he could see it.

He shrugged at what could pass as being emphatic. "Right…well, come up an' join us whenever you feel the need okay? We really ought to blow off some steam." He finished with a stiff tap to the arm before leaving.

"Thank you." She turned back to face her console.

Now her mind mulled over her lie.

Her logistical duties were done, and they wouldn't have to discharge until the next solar day. Emissions bleed was normal and the couplings were calibrated to their specifications: output sitting just under a .546R eezo manifest.

Sometimes she wondered why she was so good at keeping things in check. Besides the obvious given that she was a Quarian, she had earned a title of being a prodigy back at home.

She was interrupted from her wandering thoughts when Adams spoke to her.

"You know, Tali…" Adams remarked as he kept himself tasked at his own computer. "…It wasn't necessary to…uh—" He cleared his throat sarcastically before continuing. "_Lie_ to the Commander. I've got everything handled here just fine. Go on up. Maybe I'll join myself later."

"Bu—I di—I…"

"That's an order." He mocked as he thumbed the door. She left, terrified that her insubordination would deter into something ugly.

_Humans…so confusing._

**…**

She laughed harshly, the display an amusing spectacle to watch…

…from a distance.

Shepard strained against every muscle in his arm to move the inconceivable and ominous strength that was held before him. Wrex could only muster a chortle as he watched the useless attempts to pin his giant limb.

'Arm Wrestling' they called it.

Shepard added another hand and heaved. No Budge. The human then got up and pulled with every fiber of his being to move the Krogan's appendage.

Barely an _inch_.

"Garrus…" Shepard strained "…help me out here…"

With an aimless shrug, the Turian soon joined in by grabbing the gauntlet to heave himself.

"You serious?" Wrex growled before yanking his limb to the opposing direction. His armored plates slammed to the other side of the table.

Wrex won.

Again.

"I'll find a way _Damnit_. Someday…" Shepard panted, beads of sweat forming along his brow. "…You just wait."

Wrex nodded. "I've got all the wait in the galaxy, Shepard. You? Not so much." The Krogan's blood red eyes circled the room to gaze upon his next victim.

"Come on Kaiden. Grow a second pair and face me." The Lieutenants face wilts into a discordance of worry.

**...**

The entertaining pastime abruptly ended when Shepard's team was requested by the council. Important leads had been found, _pressing ones_, that involved the crew's immediate attention. The haphazard display of races scattered to their respective chairs before eyeing the poorly developed display of councilors.

"We have been looking over the current reports over Feros. We only know the Geth have attacked the colony…but for what reason?" The Asari paused and glanced to the Turian representative before continuing. "You will have to find out yourself." Her hologram flickered into a distant haze before distorting her image.

"Understood Ma'am." Shepard nodded, his hands placed squarely behind his back.

"Remember why you are here Spectre: to eliminate Geth resistance and find a compelling reason of why Saren finds any relevance in attacking this _Human_ colony." The emphasis the Turian Councilor placed on 'Human' was vehemently repulsive to Shepard's ear.

Shepard's animosity, quelled only by the trained soldier in him, observed Talern before answering politely. "Absolutely."

"Very well Commander. We will be waiting for your next report." The Salarian councilor concluded before creasing his arms along his chest. The holograms wavered once more before ending their short and bland exchange. The Commander's hands unknowingly lean on the Titanium rail before ingesting the disturbing news.

An inward smirk surfaced across his tensed lips before turning around to regard his team. "The brief has been forwarded to your accounts…You're all dismissed."

Ashley was the first to get up.

"I'm getting something to eat." She left while the others silently file from the room, until only Shepard and Garrus remained.

"What do you think Garrus?" Shepard observed the Turian's palsied composure that endured during their mission briefing.

"Geth activity on a human colony, Shepard?" The man's eyes had narrowed into slits before speaking again. "You can't quantify the Geths' method of thought. _Ever_." His open palm clenched into a tight fist before placing it along the contours of his mandible. "…and from what we've experienced so far, motives are nearly impossible to find." A fruitless sigh managed to pass his lips. "People on Feros are _suffering_. The sooner we fix this mess, the better." The Turian's weary eye finally looks upon Shepard's detached expression.

"Yeah…" The Spectre nodded quietly before waving him over to the door. "Come on, let's go eat."

**...**

Several intermittent pauses were felt between the swift selections of applications Tali tried to occupy herself with. The effort she put into looking busy on her Omni-tool had become increasingly difficult as she continued to shuffle through the several programs she kept running.

Now, she didn't even know why she joined the others to eat; she could hardly take part in the social gathering. Her head shook implacably from left to right somewhat sluggishly until she noticed that Shepard misinterpreted her transmission of body language.

"Something wrong?" He asked between the swigs of his drink.

"Nothing, no…I just forgot to...uh—_erm_…check my suit's integrity."

What a _lame_ excuse! Shepard wouldn't buy that!

Suit integrity…_that_ was something to scoff about.

Shepard continued to stare almost curiously before replying.

"You should get that checked out. Doesn't sound safe." His attention turned back to his meal to resume eating. Tali took a moment to watch the others eat their food, enjoying the company that would be brought at the lunch table.

She was the exception. The only one that couldn't ever—

A desolate look plastered her face when she quietly removed herself from the room, gloominess evident in her posture.

* * *

Next chapter will be up 48 hours from now!


	3. The Overending

**A/N: **When we hit present time (In this chapter), we're picking up right where we left off: Where Tali had just got done talking to Shepard**. :)**

_**MUSIC HAS BEEN ADDED! First one is: 'Heavy Fleet' and the other 'Intrepid Cause' **_

Here is the playlist: **www.(S)(O)(U)(N)(D)(C)(L)(O)(U)(D).com**

Add with a forward slash after the URL:** nicholas-powell-2/sets/mass-effect-degradation-the**

_Remember to leave a thumbs up or a review! They are **greatly** appreciated!_

* * *

**|****Moments later...**|

**|Date: 9/01/2183|**

**|Location: SSV Normandy/Frigate Class Vessel|**

**|Alliance Command CCEDF Number: 33DEFZE9-87541JSN|**

**...**

Entering her clean room, she stripped down for clothes intended for comfort. Sitting at her desk, she turned on the computer console to look at their new destination: Feros; The Human colony founded by ExoGeni to research Prothean technology. She could only summon the idea that the Geth were there to scavenge the planet for salvageable tech.

She brought her knees up to her chin, her hands dancing across the keyboard to access the query application.

"Access the latest files and news pertaining to the findings at Feros by the ExoGeni Corporation." Tali said to the computer. It responded flatly.

"Accessing…Files and events are listed below." Tali accessed the first option and began scrolling over the facts.

_FEROS: FOUNDATIONS: /ENQUIRIES ACCESSED: 1 of 4,343_

_Feros is a world compiled of the remains of a once subliminal and peaceful metropolis of the Prothean Species that have vanished roughly 50,000 years ago. The metropolis is in a state of high-quality condition considering their vulnerability and inconclusive stability._

_In the year of 2178 ExoGeni founded this planet for exploration and research for the occupants that work for the corporation. Although the structures have been proved quite inquisitive, Research brings no relevant data that bear on Prothean technology. (Access Information pertaining to recent findings on Enquiry file 65A-42 for files on Architecture, Art, and Theorized Prothean Physiology.)_

"Computer, find most recent event on Planet Feros." Tali remarked after reading the report.

"_Accessing Terminal…Query found."_

_CURRENT EVENTS: FEROS_

_Founder: ExoGeni Corporation_

_Feros has been recently attacked by Geth (For more information on Synthetic life forms, access wiki-net: Synthetic Life forms) for unknown prerogatives. Contact was lost with ExoGeni Headquarters 64 hours ago. Casualties are assumed to be high._

_REPORT INTERUPTED_

_FURTHER ENQUIRIES?_

"Log off Computer." She murmured.

"_Logging off." _Tali leaned back in her chair contemplatively, inhaling deeply to relieve the buildup of stress along her aching shoulders. The Speaker adjacent to the entrance of her room activated, allowing Shepard's voice to croak through.

"Hey, it's me…Shepard." He mumbled.

"Commander!" She barked somewhat awkwardly. "Erm…Commander…What do you need?"

"Well, I noticed you left, and I brought you something to eat." A small flash of a smile peppered his lips.

"You brought _me_ something to eat? I—" She was interrupted mid-sentence.

"Oh yeah…" Shepard mustered a small chuckle. "About the Suit Integrity thing…you should work better on your excuses..." His demeanor dripped with sarcasm.

She squirmed as she heard that, feeling like an idiot for ever muttering that lame excuse.

"…and don't worry. The food is sterile, and compatible. Just thought you would want to eat something solid for once…you know?" His hands fold across his chest at the same time Tali's did. "You seem to eat that damned paste like you're in love with it." More sarcasm.

A diluted quantity of discomfiture managed to soak through Tali's skin; something that made her shiver in…delight?

"…thank you." Her supple investment of generosity that congests her voice gave reason for Shepard to smile.

"Okay Tali…enjoy. Good Night."

"Good night, Shepard." She sighed contentedly; flustered her commander would even give the thought of feeding her.

With that, he left the distillation room, leaving the door behind him to close for the bacterial decontamination procedure to initiate.

After what seemed to be an eternity for her, the doors opened to reveal the steaming hot anomaly Shepard placed on the metal grate. Removing the sealant positioned over the metal Tupperware, she hefted it to her nose for olfactory examination: something she did ever since she was a child.

Shepard…gave her **-**_**Quarian Cuisine-!**_

Where in the _Galaxy_ he had gotten the food was a plain mystery to her…but all she could care for the moment was about _eating it._

**...**

The metal bowls lay haphazardly across the desk as she ate, eating down the scrumptious meal in protracting haste, the remaining saucy crumbs left to be swabbed by her finger to stick in her mouth afterward. Shortly thereafter, a burp emanated from her gut, relieving the gassy pressure that had built from binging.

She inhaled slowly, her sore jaw aching from muscles that had atrophied from misuse. The next fifteen minutes were spent on respite from eating before brushing her teeth. Her heavy eye-lids are condensed with sleepy weight as she turned on her music OSD: comprised of engine hums, crowded hallways, and creaking metal fashioned for the sole purpose of cradling a Quarian's soul to fall asleep.

* * *

**|Chapter 2|**

**|Date: 9/01/2183|**

**|Location/Attican Beta/Theseus/Planet Feros/Exogeni Corporation/Zhu's Hope|**

* * *

She ducked forward, plated armor taking the brunt of her dive, a pile of melted asphalt repurposed into an ample piece of cover. Recovering from the staggering blow, she huddled easily behind her refuge of rubble from Geth weapon fire.

The armor Shepard had gotten her was _heavier_ than she imagined.

Her eyes fixated to her left flank of which Garrus and Shepard occupied; their cover harboring an intense investment of ammunition from the Geth.

Alenko and Williams advanced along the far wall across from the pre-fab units in hopes of overwhelming their enemy's counteroffensive.

As for the Krogan and Asari…she could only entertain the possibility of their location.

A colonist who joined the fight slid into cover; his clothes tattered from burns and bruises.

"I never asked for any of this." He growled angrily before rising above the rubble to fire a series of slugs from his heavy rifle.

"Your friends got any bright ideas?" He yelled over the escapade of loud gunfire, his eyes searching for where her eyes might be.

"Yes! Two of our soldiers are flanking the Geth—" An uproarious explosion dusted the atmosphere near the courtyard, a disruption big enough to earn an apprehensive eye from the Quarian. Breaking through the uncertainty, she continued: "They should be drawing the Geth's attention away from us any second now!" Her yelling intensified against the gunfire's deafening aptitude of repugnant reverberation that permeated the air.

Her feet spread apart for maneuverability, in hopes to look behind her. When she did, she watched a human female of no older than twenty throw a grenade before igniting under a volley of Geth return fire.

"Sarah!" the man exclaimed behind the Quarian. He dropped his rifle to reach for the dying woman.

"Get down!" She grabbed for the clothing that dangles off him, heaving the human back under the debris.

"Get the hell off me! That's my _damned_ sister!" He pried Tali's arm off, tears streaking against the dirt that smothered his sweaty complexion. He ran to the girl, sobbing bitterly as he did so.

"Cover fire! Cover fire!" Tali's posture altered to a more combative position, her assault rifle firing in a steady sweeping motion, with Garrus and Shepard joining soon after. The man slid to his knees and grabbed for the girl's chest rig's injury handle before dragging her across the courtyard, hoping that the extent of the injuries would prove nothing too detrimental.

Bringing her back under cover, he examined the injuries: three cavernous holes had ripped through her thigh and chest. His shaking hands managed to grasp the final medi-gel pack he owned before smearing the paste into her wounds.

A featureless look plastered the Quarian's opaque glass as she eyed the dead woman's face.

"No…no!no!no!no!no! _Fuck_! Don't you…don't you **_f_**_u**ck**i**n**'_ leave me _now_!"

The Geth's inferno steadily resourced their firepower away from Tali into the larger cocktail of Alien enemies: The Krogan and Asari paired with Human soldiers.

"_Kill them. Kill them fuckers._" The man lips dripped with menace as he lifted himself from the grate to advance on the enemy's position.

"Let's move!" Shepard slid from cover with Garrus close behind, their sprint searching for a superior vantage point to use against the Geth.

Short bursts calcified through the air, their tungsten rounds fracturing Geth optical units.

The exchange of fire quickly dissipated when the last Geth unit, dripping with white fluid, 'screamed' a whining pitch of static that ended with an implosion.

The team remained quiet for a long moment, rifles leveled to survey their surrounding perimeter.

"Everyone okay?" Shepard's eyes cautiously ran across the battered landscape of ruined pre-fab units.

"We're okay." Tali murmured.

A supersonic crack reverberated through the Smokey atmosphere. The team all turned to face the sound's source: The colonist who had temporarily aided Tali's skirmish turned over one of the Geth soldiers to expel heated tungsten into its head.

* * *

**-Present Time…**

**|CHAPTER 3|**

**|Date: _12/6/2183_|**

**|Location: SSV Normandy/Frigate Class Vessel|**

**|Alliance Command CCEDF Number: 33DEFZE9-87541JSN|**

* * *

Removing herself slowly from the seat she kept warm, she touched the medal's frame that perched her neck inattentively, eyes meandering to look at the tactful details that litter the ship's interior.

The entire deck, she surmised, was bare of anyone.

Slowly, almost proudly, she climbed the large stairs towards the CIC deck, in hopes of seeing more thriving activity. Shepard had taken his usual place at the Galaxy map, his hands straddling the railing with soft knuckles.

"Joker! Where you going?" Shepard jested with an articulate wave when he caught the Flight Lieutenant hobbling in his crutches to the lower deck.

"To take a piss, Commander…" He threw a casual salute toward the Spectre in-between his waddling stride. "I thought I'd let my baby drive by herself. I won't be gone long."

Shepard's eyes roll at Jeff's impudent remark. "I know you won't. I've taken the liberty of expelling the secret stash of Fornax you've kept behind some of the stalls."

It was Joker's turn to scoff rudely before acknowledging Tali's presence.

"Excuse me, _madam_." Joker mumbled incoherently before disappearing behind the Normandy's section seal.

"We have pornography on the ship?" Tali's head quirked to regard Shepard's fruitless find.

"Not anymore." Shepard spoke through an ascetic smile.

"Right." She remarked quietly with a quirked brow before stepping up next to the Commander.

"What are you looking at?" She found herself too, gripping the railing as Shepard did.

"I wasn't looking…just…wondering how we've had this long to just…breathe." He murmured.

She nodded nonchalantly.

"We've got time now. It's nice, isn't it?"

"Yes. It is." His feet shift to a more relaxed position. An intermittent moment had passed before Shepard spoke. "Remember what I told you? After our campaign was complete?"

"I haven't forgotten. No." Tali's tone dropped several decibels as she entranced herself with the Galaxy's haptic swirls.

"You can…go home…" He muttered rather sullenly. Tali's heart spiked from the slouching posture he held.

"And I haven't forgotten my promise to you. To bring you back myself."

Her single and unnoticed nod fell into an acerbic mood as she tried to make sense of herself.

She…_didn't_ want to go.

_She wanted_ to stay…

_On the Normandy. _

_She wanted_ to stay with her new family.

But she _needed_ to stay with Shepard.

"I don't…I'm not sure if I…" Her head dipped with overwhelming indecision. "I don't want to leave…"

A sudden interjection from the intercom had bled through the Normandy's hull.

"An unidentifiable object approximately 7 kilometers in size is increasing its velocity toward predetermined routes of destination. ETA 2 minutes until Collision: Calculating alternative route."

"Unidentifiable?" Shepard's hand scratched his chin thoughtlessly. "How is it intercepting us? Our stealth is engaged…right Tali?"

Her inward stare remain transfixed on the Galaxy's elliptical spirals.

"Yes. Absolutely."

The VI's pallid tone updated their status.

"Object is now turning towards nearby Planet, Ullipses."

Shepard's forehead is lined with apprehension.

"Maybe it's the Geth. Follow the object." He turned to the Quarian with a commanding stare. "Tali, radio Adams and run a full diagnostic on sensory equipment, emission bleed, and hull refrigeration." His frown intensified. "This can't be a coincidence. Intercepting an intended course is one in a billion."

"Aye-Aye." She replied dutifully. Before Tali could even manage to take a step, the VI spoke again.

"Two more unidentifiable objects have been detected.

Shepard's eyes widen. "Two more?"

"Status Update: 2,142 unidentifiable objects have been detected entering through slip space. Evasive maneuvers engaged. Brace for imminent and immediate collision." A small explosion ruptured along the Normandy's hull, the violent reverberations forcing a panicked scream from the Quarian.

"Mass Effect Gravitational Fields off-line." The inertia stopped; leaving those not sitting in chairs to gravitate into an oblique set of directions.

"Mag-boots!" Shepard yelled. Another explosion surfaced against the Normandy, violently slamming those floating into nearby walls. Spherical droplets of blood from bloody lips and noses coagulate in the cabin, their ephemeral paths splashing effortlessly against the Normandy's glossy interior.

-_Peace never follows Shepard_.-

* * *

Codex:

Quarian Cuisine is a scarcity even among the Flotilla. The consistency of a stable distribution of actual Meats and vegetables are extremely infrequent. Diets are mainly vegan due to the lack of ability to maintain livestock. Resources are strained enough; to stretch them just for the improvement over the quality of food was a necessary forfeit. Another sacrifice the Quarians had managed to overcome.

Citadel Cuisine (Misc.):300 years ago, The Quarian's cultural and economic influence on the Citadel had stagnated tremendously during the Geth's uprising and rebellion. Eventually, and quite quickly, the Quarians, as payment for their mistake of creating a rogue interfaced AI, were barred and expelled from their Embassy and relationship with the Citadel Council. In spite of that, Dextrose markets continued to provide Quarian cuisine to Dextrose tolerable races. Production of food goods were relocated to Turian and Volus Industrial planets for farming and distribution of grown produce. To this day, Quarian cuisine is still popular. Unfortunately, many of the consumers are unaware the recipes and ingredients were originally of Quarian make.


	4. Crash Landing!

**A/N: **I would like to commemorate Exar Kun IV. He's been a great fan of mine that I'd like to mention so that he knows that his support does not go unappreciated! Thank you Exar Kun!

Anyways, Comment, Rate, Do whatever...some input is nice. Hope you enjoy this next installment!

* * *

"Where the _FUCK _is Joker?" Shepard screamed, his whitened knuckles holding the rail, voice outmatched from the 120 decibel scream the engine regurgitated.

"Flight Lieutenant Moreau is inside the Resting facility."

**…**

Joker straddled the toilet, the toilet paper whipping his face from lack of gravity.

"What. the. hell. is. going. on?!"

Whatever it was, the crew would chew his ass.

_For weeks. _

**…**

"We can't wait for Joker; we need to get out of here now!" Pressly gasped. The VI answered.

"Finding alternative route of escape. 46 percent of Kinetic shielding power remains. Attempting route now."

Tali screamed to the Commander, her hand swatting his shoulder.

"Shepard! I can fly! I need to get to the cockpit!"

"Right behind you, Tali!"

The Quarian, drenched thoroughly under the duress of disciplined training, leveraged herself parallel to the Normandy's analytic suite. Tightening her hold on the Galaxy map's railing, she jettisoned herself over the CIC and diagnostics station, her body propelling toward the Normandy's helm with Shepard close behind.

Another impact violently jostled the frigate, their course now bearing toward a nearby curvature. Through years of ingrained training, Tali's arms cover her visor instinctively as her chest slammed into a support stilt.

_Bruised ribs were better than gasping for breath in noxious air exposure. _

"Sensors have been destroyed. Auto-Pilot is unresponsive; evasive maneuvers have been disengaged. Hull integrity exposed. Be advised: Destruction is imminent: ABANDON THE NORMANDY."

The VI was now _deaf._

_And blind. _

"We need to go _**now**_!" The Quarian announced through a heaving scream.

She thrust herself forward, despite the pain that protested against her bruised chest.

Tali propelled herself as hard as her dainty arms could manage, her projectile motion garnering speed with superfluous grappling techniques.

Approaching the helm, she plunged into Joker's chair before a five-point sling attached across her chest.

A quick glance to the windows and she was left speechless.

_Those weren't Geth!_

…those objects…

They looked like _asteroids_!

A quick series of commands were placed, and she took control of the ship, pushing the engines to a breaking limit, hoping that anywhere she flew would bring safety to the crew. Shepard finally strapped himself into the adjacent chair.

"I'll monitor sensor suites! Pay attention to flying!" His voice tried to overpower the unfathomably loud screech of grinding metal. The unbearable heat that spread across her body intensified until the sweat from her brow stung her eyes.

"Hull breach on level 2 sector A/3: Sealing room."

That…was her room…thank the Ancestors she had hid 30 different copies of her Pilgrimage gift on multiple Omni-tools hid secretly around the ship.

Suddenly, the ship lurched forward, forcing Shepard's head to smash into the console hard enough to lose complete consciousness. Blood started to coalesce into small spherical bubbles around him.

"Shepard! Damn it!" A guttural sob had bitten into Tali's gut when she saw the Commander.

The push for survival was beginning to lose its grip.

"Venting atmosphere. Losing Pressure. Life Support is failing." She was left with no choice. She would have to fall in line with the 'meteors' and head towards the planets surface without Mass Effect gravitational fields, sensory equipment, or traditional landing gear.

The glass shutters closed as the atmosphere began taxing the frigate's armored plating. Aggressive shuddering erupted along the craft's hull, testing the integrity of the frigate's design until they entered the Stratosphere. Eventually, Tali flew clear from the giant escapade, lowering the craft until they were no higher than 300 feet from the air.

She brought up the intercom unit.

"Attention Crew!" her voice cracked nervously. "Our Mass Effect fields are offline! Sensors are fried and I'm flying manually! I have to land the Normandy; brace for immediate impact! I'm going to try and bring her in as slow as I can!"

From the ground's perspective, the ship jettisoned at 800 miles per hour, a blaze of smoke following the Normandy's bruised and tattered skin, the finale a display of undersized portions shredding off the oversized aircraft.

The ship comes into contact with hilly plains at a blazing 400 miles per hour, her hull gasping for breath as dirt and smoke engulf the Normandy's body in its entirety. The underbelly scrapes along the landscape, the path of destruction heaving smoke and dust into the air from the vessel's coating of thermal heat.

After a perpetual standstill, the ship finally came to halt at the top of a hill, the nose dangling off an undersized, diminutive cliff like terrain feature.

At that point, Tali's muscles finally relaxed, the anxiety ebbing away until she rushed to Shepard's aid.

The worst was _finally_ over.

* * *

...hours later

The planet was…habitable. To the extent of being a legitimate gardening world?

Unlikely.

They were far from any viable location for Colonies to establish. Not from what she saw…or that it mattered.

The real important matter was that they were _stranded_.

Her feet pat the arid grass, her shoulders rolling to stretch; eyes staring casually at Joker who nestled himself on a nearby rock with hands that support his head to emphasize his overcast disposition.

Standard protocol had been set in motion, the first and foremost being the safety of the crew. To do that, armor was distributed to everyone outside the Normandy as they executed a total damage assessment to the Normandy's hull, while those able would take the MAKO to do a daily patrol of the perimeter.

"It's okay Joker." A three fingered hand is placed over the man's shoulder reassuringly. He shrugged emphatically, only to accentuate his frame of mind.

"Had I been at the helm? I could have avoided it. I could have avoided all of this."

She hunched over.

Noticing the sudden change in posture he added reverently to restore hope. "It's not your fault…we're all alive. That's the important part." He looks back to view the expanse of land.

"I'm more interested in those things…" She announced publicly. She continued to watch the show of falling rocks that nearly killed them. A steady stream continued to pour through the planet's atmosphere, a spectacle grand enough to earn a small congregation of viewers from the Normandy's crew at any given point in time.

The crew littered the surrounding landscape, preoccupied with the duty of digging trenches and building tents. Those who were able went in groups to salvage pieces of the Normandy within a one-mile radius, in hopes that they would find something of value.

Tali took a moment to look at the Normandy…a compiled wreck of scrap metal with a functioning drive core. It looked worse than some of the ships in the Flotilla…_Much_ _worse_. However, upon closer inspection, the ship could be repaired, albeit at the same cost of the ship itself, _if_ not more.

Guilt was going to welcome her with open arms if she thought more about the Normandy…to have wrecked such a vessel…she deserved better.

The Quarian entered the ship, her posture having to compensate from the ships crooked horizontal plane.

She approached Garrus who had kept himself occupied with a console at the CIC.

"Garrus…have you seen Shepard?"

"Yeah. His nose looks bad, Tali." He turns off the console, his other hand reaching for a case he placed on the floor earlier.

"I've got a lot of duties to take care of. The crew needs help. Go see how he's doing." The Turian hesitated a bit by looking downward momentarily. "Tali. You did good. Most would have panicked."

"Thank you, Garrus."

"Think nothing of it." He finished, leaving Tali to walk awkwardly down the stairs before she entered the medical bay.

Standing up, Shepard had taken the liberty of looking into a mirror to make needed adjustments to the hideous bandage placed squarely on his face. His back continued to face her as Tali approached, hands already tackling each other, as if they were searching through a hazy pile of words to feed her open mouth.

"Commander…?" Her back hunched over, the suit protesting the ill fitted posture. His head spun around slowly to regard her.

"You like it? Suits me well." He said with a wandering smile. "I have a raging headache Tali. Dr. Chakwas gave me a shot of Toradol; it'll be a couple hours until it kicks in."

"I'm sorry I…"

A hand rose to interject her.

"Tali. Before you continue, I want to tell you, that you did a _damn_ good job of getting us to safety. Don't be sorry."

"Commander!" She countered with an angry stare before lowering her voice to a more comfortable volume. "Shepard…I wrecked the Normandy…the most advanced space-faring vessel of its time. How can I not be upset with myself?"

"That's the beauty of it. If it can be made…it can be done again." His arms swirl around him to give more purpose to the conversation.

"Besides, it's not like you had a choice; Joker was sitting on his ass the entire time you were busy trying to save us all." Another smile surfaced.

There it was again…she didn't know how he did it…how he managed to find light at its darkest…how to find pleasure in misery…or the laughter inside pain. He stepped forward, but tripped with Tali catching him in his free-fall.

His arm hooks around her shoulder, the other tightly gripping the bed's metal frame.

"Yeah…the shot she gave me? She put it in my ass. Biggest needle I've ever seen in my life. Hurts like hell."

"Is that why you tripped?" She teased lightly.

"Yeah…I feel like limping every time I put weight on it." He grinned.


	5. Taking Point

**A/N:** If people have questions, ask! If you think I should change my releases, tell me! Should I release more per chapter? Spit it out!

I need input guys, otherwise, I'd be going in blind. And unlike some particular companies, _ahem_*, I listen to the input with a careful eye. ;)

Here you go!

* * *

Tali was trained on how to use a sniper-rifle. _Every_ Quarian was. 'School' educated their adept students with basic and advanced weaponry function and their use.

This ensured that even children could defend themselves, if necessary, from pirates and slavers that, even if rarely, would attack ships separated from the fleet.

She rests at the hill's apex, her grasp relatively light on the weapon's handle. Her left leg is arched close to her chest, the other crossed on the grass for support, hands propped for extra stability to keep the scope at a complete standstill.

The asteroids continue to fall in the far distance, their impact hidden from a mountain's outline that pierced the lower atmosphere. Lowering the rifle, she handed Garrus the weapon who watched tentatively for the duration Tali had studied the spectacle.

"Here." She murmured through a frown.

"From what I remember in science class is that rocks _that_ big falling _that_ fast should be blowing us _all_ up. I just don't get it." The Turian's eyes continue to stroke the odd display.

Tali nodded as she chewed her lip sullenly. The Mako approached from behind them, the engine whining when it got the chance to rest. Four marines spill out of the vehicle awkwardly, the last one being Ashley Williams.

"We checked the perimeter. Nothing interesting. Ready to see what's really happening to those rocks?" Her finger traced the sky to point at the debacle.

"Yeah. We're ready." Garrus replied, his rifle stowing to the back of his armor.

"Good. On top you two. It gets too cramped when we have six people in the back." Williams thumbed the vehicles roof.

"I need the breeze anyways." Garrus shrugged before hoisting himself up; taking care to turn around to give Tali a hand.

Propping her leg on the massive wheel, she was lifted to the roof of the vehicle before plopping down next Garrus, her hands squeezing the rail to reassure her grip.

"So, Tali…ready to find out what the hell is going on?"

* * *

**|CHAPTER 4|**

**|Date: 12/6/2183|**

**|Location: Planet Ullipses|**

* * *

They all stand at the mountain's edge, the wind whipping against their bodies at alternating speeds, their expressions all laced with an apprehensive stares.

The meteors weren't crashing down into the ground.

They were going _through_ it.

"What the hell…" A marine by the name of Sergeant Pete Stacker muttered breathlessly, his hands gripping his rifle tightly.

"What do we do?" Stacker's subordinate, Corporal David Wallace, spoke tactlessly as he eyed the view.

"There isn't much we can do…" Tali whispered, her hands folding across her breasts. "All we can assume is this is dangerous. Very dangerous."

Garrus refrained from voicing an opinion, leaving room for his callous expression to speak for him.

"Tali is right." Stacker finished. The lowest ranking NCO speaks: Private Max Heathers. "Should we jump to conclusions that easily?" A frown spread across her lips.

"I don't know what else to analyze, private. Big ass rocks are falling through the planet. You don't find that dangerous? We assume the worst, period." His hand chopped the air decisively. "That or you're in for some nasty surprises." He rebuked the naïve soldier.

The marine's statement was all too familiar for Tali: 'assume the worst: because it usually is.'

"We need to report back and give Shepard a status update. The sooner we're off this rock, the better." Williams regarded her comrades with a soured expression. Rendezvousing at the Mako, the soldiers climb into the vehicle, with Garrus, Tali, and a marine climbing to the roof.

Settling himself on the armored car, Garrus established a COM link between him and Ashley.

"Williams. A little more tact can go a long way when a women drives. So drive carefully. I've been playing the living game pretty well so far…I'd hate to see myself lose now." Garrus terminated the bead.

The Mako's wheels suddenly accelerate, the impulsive increase in inertia forcing everyone to violently heave backward.

"Bastard." Garrus hissed.

The wind clings to her clothing, the amethyst fabric that gripped her helmet sailing against the cooling airstream.

The experience was…disheartening.

It was a familiarity she'd never become intimate with. It was a prosaic sensation; like water over a latex glove.

She turned to face the marine who suddenly tapped her shoulder.

"Hey. Tali right?" Wallace's palm extends out to shake her hand. She returned the favor.

"I don't want to be rude. But the crew around here have been scratching to know what you look like under that helmet." He uncapped his canteen to take a swig.

"Similar to humans, I can tell you that." She points to his appendages. "The only difference between us is the amount of toes and fingers you have." She smiles inwardly. "And the ears." She braced herself when the Mako climbed a steep hill.

"Really now? You have hair?"

"Yes. Speaking of which…" She plays with her veil as if it were thick locks draping from her scalp. "I think it's due for another trim."

He laughed, his shoulders slouching.

"Why are you so curious?" Her brows scrunch in genuine curiosity.

"I don't know…it was just bugging me I guess."

"Me too. I was just too afraid to ask." Garrus pitched into the conversation. "Wallace…we could bombard the hell outta Tali with questions like that…but I think there are some secrets girls like to keep to themselves…right Corporal?" Garrus nudged the man's shoulder to make a point.

"I guess." The human mumbled incoherently, his symptomatic frown tugging at his lips when he received the Turian's notion. A sharp turn from the Mako sends them bracing to catch their almost aggressive fall.

A disparaged growl carries forward from Garrus before he jams a thumb to his bead.

"What the living hell, Ash!" The Turian growled angrily.

"Sorry! Sorry! There was a pothole!" She retorted.

"A pot hole wouldn't do anything to the Mako's independent suspension system, Williams."

"I know."

"You're a real _bastard_, Ash."

* * *

Next release in another two days!


	6. Reporting In

A/N: _Added another song!_ 'Longing' -this was actually supposed to be put into the part where the Normandy Finally crashes on Ullipses.

Here is the playlist: **www.(S)(O)(U)(N)(D)(C)(L)(O)(U)(D).com**

Add with a forward slash after the URL:** nicholas-powell-2/sets/mass-effect-degradation-the**

* * *

"We're approaching the Normandy, won't be much longer Garrus. I can tell your freezing." Williams tone was mirthful and dripped with sarcasm.

"And how is that, Ash?" He inquired, albeit slowly.

"You've left the com bead on and I can hear your teeth chattering." She terminated the channel.

They take the next bend and exit out of the crevice into the plains where the remains of the Normandy lay; a plethora of lights surrounding its perimeter to light their makeshift camp.

"I'm dropping you off at the entrance, the crew managed to pitch up a garage for this thing. I'll meet up with you guys later."

Soon enough, Ashley placed a foot on the brake, the vehicle slowing to a crawl for the three to step off. As quickly as Ashley stopped, she departed, navigating the APC around ship before disappearing behind a pile of rubble.

Tali entered the ship, Garrus already on his way to find kindling for a fire to light.

After nodding to several passerbies, she entered the Commander's cabin, only to stumble upon Shepard in the middle of changing.

"Oh…Keelah." Her gaze faltered, cheeks flushing into a heavy shade of red. "I'm so sorry Shepard…I just…I _just_…."

Shepard's brows quirked. "Tali…I'm only changing shirts…its okay." He struggled, his hands squirming under the tapered fit. "It's hard to put on with a broken nose…the collar likes to snag on the bandage."

"I…uh…oh."

Her back faced him, eyes desperately wandering around the bland details of the room to try and overlook Shepard's rather…

_Illustrious_ body.

"Tali…You can turn around. This isn't embarrassing." He sat on the end of his bed, arms pushing through the sleeves of his fatigues.

A slow and uneventful twist of her body sent her back to face the human.

"I take it our present disposition is going moot at this point?" Shepard mumbled as he patted the large white dressing that adhered along his nose.

"Yes. I don't know what they are, Shepard." A pensive whisper escaped her lips. "They…fall through the ground." Her palm compressed along her face plate's curvature. "I have no idea what's going on. We have surveillance for you to see."

Shepard's eyes lock with hers, his complexion hardening. Tali almost lost her composure until a thoughtful sigh escaped through his lips, his shoulders slacking as he swallowed the information he was given.

"How are you feeling?" Shepard smiled rather inwardly, despite the disconcerting report.

"I'm doing fine …I really wanted to come by and check up on you." She teased. "That and to look at that awful nose of yours."

"Don't know if it'll grow back right."

Her eyes widen. "Seriously?"

"I'm joking." His hands reveal his palms to make his point before continuing.

"Tali. I'm sorry were in this situation." His hands grip each other tightly, shame evident in his words. "We wouldn't be in this mess if I didn't ask to help get rid of these pockets of Geth Resistance.

She intervened with a raise of her finger. "But then we wouldn't be here together."

A small smile surfaced before it disappeared again.

"Still." He shook his head, his jaw flexing.

"Then we need to make the best of it." Her words evaporate through thick air.

"Speaking of which…what would you suggest we do about those meteors?"

Shepard asking her for advice? This was the chance to impress: to prove that she was capable of _anything_.

A…_a chance to…impress? What…what am I talking about? He already knows I'm capable of everything! _

Her back straightened, eyes glossy with exhaustion.

Shepard waited after an elapse of seven seconds before getting a response.

"Without further speculation; we can't base a decision off of anything. My intuition screams that the sooner we get off this planet, the better."

"You okay Tali?"

After a mental evaluation, she realized how long it had been since she ever got any sleep.

"I'm…I'm just tired."

"You've been up for nearly two days. It was about your time to get some sleep until…" He waves his arms around the room. "this happened. Then you go out patrolling."

"Because I _wrecked_ **your** ship…" She looks down to fixate on her feet. "…and your nose."

Shepard pointed to his face, a welcoming smile competent enough to warm her dainty heart. "This. Is. _Not_. Your fault."

"Yes it is." She countered childishly.

"No. It's not. You need to get some sleep."

"My room was destroyed from the hull breech…I'm going to have to rummage through some crates outside to find a sleeping bag."

"You can sleep here." His hands pat the sheets.

Her eyelids dwindle, her arms stretching as she did so.

She _was_ tired…Tired enough to not think of it as an invitation.

Collapsing onto the bed rather tactfully, her state of mind blackened to an inky darkness.

* * *

**|CHAPTER 5|**

**|Date: 12/7/2183|**

**|Location: Planet Ulipses|**

* * *

Her eyes bead open, arms tucked underneath her chest, realizing she hadn't moved from her unexpected crash of nearly seven hours.

She needed to get up and work…however, her thoughts had misted into a thick coagulation of incoherent verdicts before she once more falls back into a deep slumber.

**…**

She dreams she is human.

She walks, bare feet touching the cold surface of stone, the edges surrounded by dark and featureless shades of pale colored sand. Her figure stands alone, save for the icy shores rising against the beach's fruitless gray, the sky painting its own silhouette of lighter blacks.

_It is a place of deep and personal mediation._

She lowered herself to rest along the stone face beset with the marks of age and erosion, her legs crossing along each other before a long inhale of chilly air infiltrates her nostrils.

Her eyelids close and she exhales, arms rising to embrace the moisture and gusts of frosty air. Eventually, she eyed her right flank to ingest the shoreline's shapeless delineation that acclimated to the cliff in the short distance. An overhang houses a waterfall, its peak shrouded with pine trees, the colors a boring and pale green.

The ambiance was _peaceful_.

_serene_.

Shepard sat next to her, the heat radiating from his core into her own.

It was fulfilling gesture. They both eye the abyss with pensive expressions, their glares surveying the steady blanket of water that submerged the sand before slipping back into the watered void.

"Tali…" Shepard murmured. She found that she was holding his arm tightly around hers.

"Tali…" He reiterated.

She awakened, her arms clinging to his arm as if she were holding onto her childhood refuge cloak.

She let her grip slide off his armored bicep slowly…if not relatively sensually.

"Sorry…" She whispered, her voice cracking from dehydration.

"It's okay. You've got a good nine hours." His palm squeezed her shoulder. "Feel like you can get back on your feet?"

"Yeah…" She remained still. The commander sat down next to her.

"Quite." He mumbled. A slow groan stemmed from her gullet.

Content with what he saw, he pried the pocked armor off before assessing his psyche.

He was _exhausted_.

After a visit to ground zero himself, a disgruntled pit had formed at the lower regions of his stomach, the worry twisting painfully at his insides. He never bothered to eat, much less sleep since they had crashed.

Turning to look at the Quarian's silhouette, he watched carefully for the steady rise and fall of her shallow breaths. He hesitated, only slightly, at the thought of sleeping next to her. Nothing less of supposition, he sauntered over to the bed as he gathered his pillow to engulf his head with, his breathing steadying into a blissful whisper.

**…**

A slow and sharp inhale emits from her dry throat, as she eyed the large anomaly sleeping next to her. Smiling inwardly, she watched amusingly as the commander snored soundly, unbeknownst that he was dreaming of her.

Looking to the personal possessions she had placed at his night stand, she sees the deck of cards Shepard had used for the rare occasion of down time. It was an old Human game…one that was used for generations since the days of pre-flight.

How she remembered the simple lesson from Shepard was somewhat of a mystery to her, however, she retained a vivid memory of the days before their mission on Noveria, to track down an Asari Matriarch, a powerful Asari reaching the end stage of her lifetime.


	7. Reminiscing II

**A/N: I've had a few number of people ask that I keep the releases up. On the other hand, I also had people message me to increase the content of my sections. (This is another reminiscing scene in Tali's head.)**

**I want to increase it to around 3,000 words every four days. Tell me what you guys think. Your responses are critical. If you want more, then say so!**

* * *

_**A number of months ago...**_

**|Chapter 6|**

**|Date: 9/24/2183|**

**|Location: SSV Normandy/Frigate Class Vessel|**

**|Alliance Command CCEDF Number: 33DEFZE9-87541JSN|**

* * *

Tali tugged at a small crate to the table to join the arbitrary number of occupants in the small commune.

"We've got a load of time to kill. So we're passing the time with something that dates back to when Humanity couldn't even muster the skill to fly."

Half-hearted chuckles fill the nearly empty room.

"What game this time?" Garrus fiddled with a cloth and tool he held before sitting down on a chair he had set up earlier.

"You're going to find out." The commander hastily shuffled the deck before he passed the cards to those surrounding the table.

**…**

"You in? Or out?" Shepard eyed the cards he held with a toothy smile as he finished his soda. A series of voices replied with in or outs; most of those who participated slamming their cards down frustratingly. The laughs continued. Tali had won several rounds with Shepard observing her luck with an exuberant smile.

Time had passed at a steady pace with the sundry quantity of card playing activities, the entertainment ending when the VI broadcast through the intercom that the Normandy be prepped for passing the Mass Relay to Noveria. The laughter died down quickly, the atmosphere suddenly mounting its volume of weight on the occupants prepping for their visit on Noveria in hopes that their stay would be one of peace.

Approaching her locker, the Quarian goes over the equipment she had already prepped the night before. Looking up from examining her personal armament, she eyed Shepard's admittance into the lift before the doors closed behind him.

Finishing the methodical examination of her gear, she made her way to the second level of the Normandy to grab a computer she left on the conference table.

Reaching the floor, she takes the next bend…only to find Shepard cradling it in his arms while he holds a can of soda in the other.

"Tali!" The topside of his hand scratches his chin rather clumsily, his brows rising in surprise. "I was just about to head to your room to give this to you…"

"I'm like a kid sometimes." She shook her head somewhat embarrassingly. "I uh…sometimes leave my computer lying around." Shepard handed her the laptop of which she gladly accepted.

"Thank you." She mumbled as Shepard sat down to take a swig of the beverage he placed on the metal finish.

"What are you drinking?" She took a seat across from him, her legs propping over the other.

"It's a soda." He examined the can thoughtlessly before taking another sip. "Ginger-Ale is what this flavor is." He laughed weakly. "I wouldn't be drinking this off duty…but it's better than the filtered water onboard. Tastes too much like plastic." His lips smack for effect.

Tali's hands crossed each other, intently interested in the soft drink.

"What does it taste like?"

"Well…the CO2 tingles in your mouth the same way alcohol does…with way less burn."

"They place gas inside the drink? And it's not fermented?"

"Nope. Completely artificial." His back shifts to one side, his posture relaxing.

Her eyes widen a bit before they recede to their usual size. Something Shepard noticed with a careful eye.

"Wow…that's really neat. I've never heard of that." Her left foot taps at the floor inattentively. "I wish I could try some."

"And who says you couldn't?" A smile proceeds to surface his lips.

"I'd like to entertain the idea…" Her words dangle off her mouth, her thick fingers already pressing into her arms to massage the joints. "…But I seriously doubt it."

"Well, maybe we can research it. You can take some stuff that won't harm you." Shepard wipes his forehead as if to remember something. The intercom squawked, the electrical static discomforting to Shepard's ears.

"Commander." Joker croaks through the speaker. "Five minutes out. We'll hit Noveria in two hours."

"Keep me posted." The transmission is severed as Shepard stood up, his gaze returning to Tali.

"Why don't we go research it?"

She scoffed, albeit slightly.

"Okay, Shepard. We'll see." She gestured a hand to let him follow.

The facts and trivia compile onto the monitor, his eyes sifting through the information containing the make-up of Quarian physiology on the extranet. He taps at his chin thoughtfully with the proliferation of details that litter the screen.

The Quarian sat behind him, her fingers prodding and poking the can's metal surface.

"I already know Co2 won't hurt you…The ingredients won't either…No glucose. I guess it's safe to say that you can drink some." He exits out of the browser before regarding the woman adjacent to him, his hands rising to chest level. "But…just to make sure. You should check in with Chakwas when you're done."

"We should tell her before we do this."

"You make it seem like we're going to do something debilitating." He remarked sarcastically, a smile splashing his expression.

She looks back down at the small cylinder and shrugs emphatically. "Well…I hear stomach pumps aren't so bad if it comes to that."

His smile brightens. "See? That's the spirit. Go on. I'll notify the doctor as you go and enjoy that refreshment of yours." His hands reiterate a swaying motion, pushing her gently out of his quarters.

"O…ok…okay.."

They part ways as she headed toward the elevator, waiting for the large pulley to greet her. As its doors open, Garrus and Wrex step off the platform as they both eye the item in Tali's hand.

"Hey Tali." The Turian's stare never left the can. "I Hope that's…safe to drink. Tell me if it is. I'd hate to see us both down for a week." He thumbed the stairs leading to the CIC. "I'll be up looking at the galaxy map." Garrus departs, leaving Wrex to stare at her opaque visor.

"Daring aren't you, Quarian?" His teeth show as she placed a free hand along her hip.

"Wrex. How many times do I have to tell you my name is Tali?"

"You Quarians all look the same to me." He brushes her off with a large hand. "Don't worry…Quarian; I still remember what your people look like. It hasn't been completely forgotten."

His large tongue glides over his incisors, his appetite growling in anticipation as he walks past the Quarian in hopes of finding a gratifying snack.

Inwardly, she placed an index and thumb to flick her visor: an expression's equivalent to a human's 'rolling eyes' effect.'

"Bosh'tet."

She entered the compartment before the elevator descended to the deck right above the hanger bay, where a storage, clean room, and resting facility lay.

Stepping onto the deck, she walks down the corridor excitedly where she meets the decontamination pod, waiting as the distilment cycle tested her patience.

Eventually, the rotation completes and she entered the room, her hands already gripping the seals that line across her neck. They unlock, allowing the atmosphere to equalize pressure, the air stream sucking inward with a satisfying whine. She exhaled breathlessly before her eyes begin to pander around the can's outline, her fingers already caressing the aluminum.

She nibbled on her lip when she lifts the can in her grasp, her finger steadily puncturing the top to reveal the liquid.

Pressing her lips against the seal, it trickles down her throat, the Co2 materializing the lining of her esophagus.

"Oh…Keelah…" _Never_ had a beverage ever been as refreshing as _this_. Then, almost instinctively, she cringed when she thought of what the allergic reaction would be.

After nearly a minute…_nothing_.

"Tali…" Shepard's voice is lightly laced with static. "Doctor confirmed it. It's fine. Tell me…does it taste good?"

"…Please tell me you have more." She teased before swallowing another mouthful.

"You really like it?"

"It's delicious, Shepard. I'm really missing out."

"I'm glad. I'll make a note to buy more at our next resupply, okay?"

"Thank you…I know it sounds juvenile doing this…but I appreciate it."

"Tali. When you're thrust into impossible odds like this…" His words harden slightly. "You take moments like this whenever you can. Don't ever take these times for granted. _Ever_." He cleared his throat before continuing.

"Now, if you'll excuse me. The council flagged me for some pressing concern about Noveria. Enjoy the soda Tali. I have to go. See you soon?"

"Yes, Shepard. We will." Her hands cradle the cylinder of popping liquid carefully as she reflects upon the his words of wisdom.

"Good." He terminated the channel, the engine bleed once more enveloping the room.

Another sip and she sat at her computer.

"Computer. Access Quarian Physiology. What types of Levo-Protein foods; preferably Human foods, can I eat without harming me?" She spoke, interest evident in her voice.

"Accessing information…Query found."


	8. Reminiscing III

**A/N: A lot of people told me I should release more content per chapter. And I will be doing that starting with the next chapter. However, because of that, I will release these every four to five days.**

* * *

**|9/25/2183|**

**|Location: Noveria: Peak 15 Research complex|**

* * *

"Okay, we need to stop." Shepard's hand met the railing of one of the service ducts they had found themselves in. His helmet, covered in the chilly frost of ice, shook slowly as he breathed heavily. His Turian and Quarian companions slow to halt at Shepard's inertness, their own breaths taxed with their recent combative engagement. He exhaled slowly, turning his back against the wall to face them.

"You okay? You look a little beat up." With a solid shake of Shepard's shoulder, Garrus grunted. Tali took point around the bend of the corridor, partly terrified that their encounter with the Rachni would soon escalate into something far more sinister than just a 'failed experiment'.

"Yeah…just give me a minute. That last fight took something out of me." He replied easily, the condensation from his breath finding its way to the ceiling.

"It would have been best if we had brought everyone along instead of leaving them back to help the scientists." Tali added. Shepard shrugged nonchalantly. Did he just agree with her suggestion? She didn't know. However, their encounter with a thought-to-be-extinct species; the Rachni, should have made her consideration valid. Shepard stepped off from the wall, and ripped his weapon from the magnetic cling with new fervor.

"Okay, let's keep moving." His usual commanding demeanor returned.

They resumed their steady advance, eventually coming across a tactical hurdle: a closed door. With calculated precision, the entered quietly, analyzing the area around them.

Tali had become disconcerted when reporting a Rachni pair at the far side of the room. To their advantage, the pair of squid-faced aliens hadn't noticed the three well armed soldiers entering the large lab. Upon closer inspection, she had noticed that the Rachni pair were having a territorial duel over some dead body. Human she guessed. The body's organs and blood had littered the snow covered floor, melting some of the ice in the process. The torso was relatively intact, leaving an arm and head attached.

Suddenly, her heartbeat had slowed to a tempo unworthy for music. As time died down to a measured crawl, she realized that the body she had once thought dead was…

_**Still. Moving**_**.**

_Hundreds of thoughts tax her cranium. _

_Many of them on the lessons on Morality. _

_Ethics._

_Principles._

_Beliefs._

_The unspoken rules of combat._

_None of them mattered at this point. _

_This monstrous atrocity that was being committed needed to end. _

_**Violently.**_

Her aiming reticle aligned itself with the man's head. She fired a clean round; killing the last fragment of life left in him.

"Go in peace." She said with a hiss. Her attention had diverted to those two _eternally_ _damned_ Rachni.

The Rachni screeched as their twisted game came to an end. They turned to face their new threat, their new '_game'_, and charged; amused by their enemy's delightfulness to come right out into the open.

"You _bastards_." Her voice dripped with sickening venom. She stood from cover and co-sighted her weapon's optical unit with the Rachni closest to her. She held down the trigger as 40 rounds had hit home into the alien's chest. Its fast death was going to be nothing in comparison with what she had planned to do with her next victim. She knelt on one knee and fired a single round into her opponent's torso. The disgusting creature had collapsed from the well placed shot, its legs caving into a large patch of snow.

She dropped the rifle ruthlessly, the sound of her knife unsheathing evident. She thrust the matte black angled blade high into the air and let it sit there for a moment to let the Rachni know it was going to _**suffer**_.

She thrust down as hard as her Quarian arms could, the blade easily piercing through the Ranchi's thick hide. She repeated the process, the lacerations becoming deeper and more prudent. The knife had become stuck, and without a second thought, she let go and gripped the bastard's throat and began to cave in the face of the demented alien.

In due course, the Rachni's screaming had ceased with Tali's brutal beating. The only sound to envelop the room afterwards was her heavy breathing and the occasional gust of wind escaping through the cracks of the windows. She put a boot on the body, using her leg for leverage as she ripped the knife out to place back into her sheath.

Her companions..._especially_ Shepard, stood silently in disbelief. She glared with a bleeding ferocity before picking up her rifle and walking past the two.

"We have a job to do. Let's get to it." She murmured flatly.

The Post-Trauma was going to settle in soon, and Tali knew it.

* * *

**A day afterward…**

**|9/26/2183|**

**|Location: Normandy SR1, Level 2 A/3|**

* * *

Tali was silent for the duration of the mission.

She felt...

_Unsteady_...

The mix was a poisonous cocktail; like contradicting lines of emotional tenderness. She had made her way straight to her room in hopes that her psychological torment would quell its depressing thirst.

Sitting on the bed uncomfortably, she held an injector with close observation.

It's container housed a psychological depressant.

Something she swore to not take if it meant helping cope with Emotional-trauma. However, her recent experience had made her consider otherwise, which made an overruling of her previous decision.

Without a second thought, she guided the injector into her arm and pulled the trigger.

Things were already starting to feel better. A loud knock on her steel cased door had stirred her from her thoughts afterwards.

"Tali…I want to talk to you."

Shepard's voice was at the far end of the decontamination unit. She still had her suit on luckily. She meandered towards the door and gave Shepard access into the hub. She entered herself, so that way they could meet in-between. In one hand, the syringe shooter dangled in her limp fingers, while the other cradled her tricep.

They finally met, and when Shepard's eyes lay upon her, she felt exposed…weak… and pathetic.

She dropped the syringe, trembling hands flying up to her mask.

_Things were starting to not feel better. _

The captivating silence continued as Shepard drew her in for a heartfelt embrace. She found the gesture comforting…like someone that could share the overwhelming burden with her.

Slurring, she finally murmured: "I can't believe…I…" She trailed off, finding it difficult to talk through the traumatizing occurrences that rambled through her cranium.

He even started to stroke her back caringly.

That _definitely_ helped.

"I shouldn't have brought you on that mission. I knew that there were going to be difficult things to see…especially after our encounter with the Rachni. You're strong. I wish I could say the same thing about myself…but I can't."

She didn't touch up on the subject. She knew why he said that…about his incident on Akuze. She knew that he had emotional scars too. That's why she felt all the more comfortable knowing that they could share a burden...together…

If it meant anything.

Eventually, they parted from the embrace, albeit reluctantly.

"Thank you. That means a lot to me." She said with brief consolation. "If you'll excuse me…I need to take a long and _very_ hot shower."

* * *

**Present Time…**

**|Chapter 7|**

**|12/8/2183|**

**|Location: Planet Ullipses|**

* * *

Tali navigated her way to the exit until the night sky welcomed her. The millions of stars creased the atmosphere, the spirals of the galaxy caressing the horizon.

"Heathers…" Tali called for the marine that tried to squeeze past her. "…Would you happen to know the time?"

The human's arms fluster as she quickly drew her chronometer.

"0132 hours for the Normandy, Tali." The soldier smiles, her rifle clasping lightly against her chest plate.

"Thank you, Max." And with that, the marine entered the Normandy.

Eyeing the surrounding landscape, she observed the crew with their occupation of damage assessments and sentry, with many of them sitting around fires they had started earlier for warmth. Amongst them were her closest compatriots huddled around the fire Garrus had kindled, their silhouettes flickering against the fire's miasma.

The Krogan had occupied his time with eating…'potato chips' …with the Asari burying her head under a pair of arms to sleep.

Lastly was Garrus, who had perched himself on a crate, hands straddling a set of binoculars to view the scores of stars that inundated the sky.

Approaching the crate somewhat slowly, her hands fold across its surface to speak to Garrus.

"Eyeing the view?" She asked half-heartedly. He nodded rather slowly, his eyes still engaged in the brilliant view.

"My mother when I was younger…" He laughed quietly, almost nonchalantly before continuing. "…took me on a trip to highest Mountain on Palaven…" His vocals lower a number of decibels. "…she took me to an observatory; to look at the solar sky… afterward; she drove me to the mountain's cliff edge…waiting for nightfall to show me the stars." The binoculars fall from his face down to his lightly armored chest as he regarded the Quarian next to him. "That was my inspiration." He whispered.

"Inspiration for what?" Her voice is cooled by the exchange.

"Inspiration for space…" He turned back to observe the heavens, an explanation already underway for Tali's ears to listen to. "Every Turian goes through the Military. _Every one._"

"Even those who are weak?"

He remained silent for a moment.

"Those who are weak don't make it long in our society." He whispered uncharacteristically. "But that's not where I'm getting at." He added quickly, his demeanor returning.

"That one night in the mountain was the reason I chose to work at C-Sec...To become a spacer after extending my time in the armed forces. The joy of being in the vacuum of space intensified with time." He laughed once more, quieter than the last.

"It's childish, I know…but it still sticks. Even now." He nodded mostly to himself before the Binoculars return to hover over his eyes.

"You enjoyed being a spacer? Is that why extended your time in the Military?"

"Exactly…" He sighed as if an unwanted memory lapsed through his mind pretentiously.

"How are you holding up?" Tali shifted her feet against the dry dirt.

"Our situation? …It's humbling, honestly. It's a different perspective, really." His mandibles gawk, jaw clenching loosely around his teeth. "For once…we're not here hunting criminals, saving the galaxy…or dealing with the ruts of life." He fell silent for a brief moment before continuing.

"We're only here with each other…and I intend to enjoy every moment of it."

"Likewise, Garrus." She stepped away from the crate after a curt nod, her feet scrapping away at the haphazard placement of rocks until it was deemed comfortable enough to sit on. With little or nothing better to do, an inattentive finger turned on her Omni-tool to occupy her time with.

* * *

_You guys are going to love the next installment. ;) _


	9. Revealing

**A/N: First, I'd like to tell everyone, Happy Thanksgiving. Now's the time to sit with our family and friends and enjoy the warmth of each other's company. **

**Secondly, I've added four more songs to my playlist. Please. Take a listen. Hopefully, it'll set the mood for this chapter. :) Maybe some of the songs will set the mood for the day, also! **

Here is the playlist: **www.(S)(O)(U)(N)(D)(C)(L)(O)(U)(D).com**

Add with a forward slash after the URL:** nicholas-powell-2/sets/mass-effect-degradation-the**

**The songs are as follows: **

**1.) AT LAST**

**2.) OUR HOME**

**3.) EXPECTANCY**

4.) MEDTVOL Theme -This is the theme for the entire story!

**_Make sure you leave a review!_**

**As I said, the chapters will be longer now! And I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

**|Chapter 8|**

**|12/8/2183|**

**|Location: Planet Ullipses|**

* * *

Her eyes remained peeled, orbs wandering around those who slept by the fire. Eventually, she let her gaze wander to the stars…the billions that were housed in just _their_ Galaxy _alone_. She strived toward the notion of how big the Universe was...but the attempt was _utterly_ pointless.

She couldn't even begin fathoming the vast expanse of space that the universe occupied. There could be thousands…_millions_ of other sentient life that existed beyond the cosmic dust that formed the Milky Way.

Soft amendments to the Turian's weight were heard, his breathing muted by the pliable sound of snoring. The heat from the fire flickered, its radiance coloring her supple outline with crimson colored pastels.

All it could do was remind her of the close proximity she shared with John…the number of countless occasions was long lost in her thoughts; but it mattered little.

Her hands dig through her side pack until she gripped the familiar shape of a water pouch. Drawing up the packet, she quickly inserted the puncture seal into the bag to her induction port, and sucked.

Her eyes dwindle once more along the heavens, examining the intricate designs that bordered the horizon, the display topped with lustrous stars that kissed the mountainous silhouette.

The Flotilla was out there, she cogitated, knowing that if they made it off this rock…she would join them once more.

Her eyes shimmer brightly against the flames, a single tear shedding with the unfruitful reminder that one day that she would _indeed_ _have to_ leave.

Did she want to?

_No_.

She wanted to stay with Shepard…to fight alongside him…

To…_hold_ him…

She swallowed another cold mouthful of the distilled liquid before a shallow breath of filtrated air was emptied from her lungs.

The idea was entertaining…but she needed to remain…realistic. She had a duty to her people…and she couldn't let her personal feelings get in the way.

Regardless…she was stranded at the moment, and for that reason, she would remain with her friends and family…for as long as she was needed.

Pushing the thoughts away for further consideration, she let her attention fixate on a more pressing issue: The meteorites that seemed to adjust speed, alter their direction…and more importantly, _liquidate _through the ground.

_That was the best part: 'Liquidating through the ground…like special effects in a damned vid.'_

It certainly didn't appeal to Tali's safety. Despite the heavy shade of preconceptions the meteors had earned on their reputation, nothing more than an amusing cloud of misty lights remained, the spectacle easy to entertain the eyes of viewers who happened to gaze upon it.

The pouch heaves a cough of dry air as she finished the drink, hands already working at severing the packet's seal.

Abruptly, a cold sweat runs across her neck when something happened…

Something that haunted the Quarians since the dawn of their exile:

_An itch…on the __**nose**__._

Almost absent-mindedly, her hand reached for the irritation only for her finger to bludgeon against the visor's glass. A feeble scoff emitted from the Quarian's lips when her muscles tremble under the petulant sensation.

"Damn…" She muttered breathlessly, her arms dropping unceremoniously to the ground.

What she wouldn't do to rip off the damned visor…

…What would it be like?

The itch intensifies almost enough for her eyes to water.

…What could it be like?

_No. No. No._

The lessons for pilgrimage training were clear! 'Hygienic and safety protocol A-52.51 _**DICTATES **_that removal of filtration conduit is _**HIGHLY **_dangerous and should be avoided at _**ANY**_ and _**ALL**_ costs.'

The facts roll across her mind the same way they had when she was first taught them.

A burning throb spread across her face, its focal point originating from her olfactory sensor.

_Damnit!_

Maybe…Just _once_…

The lesson continues from her memory:

'Hygienic and safety protocol A-52.52: _**However**_, if the time arises where removal of visor is absolutely critical, Immuno-boosters must be taken for extra precaution until visor replacement can be found.'

Her skin continued to suffer when an elated idea surfaced across her thoughts: The experience of cold air currents…the fire's heat…the cool surface of a crate's metal against her fragile skin…

The injector placed on her arm comes into view. Hesitantly, she lets her finger hover over the Omni-tools haptic interface before injecting a syringe into her blood stream, its contents introduced intravenously through her deltoid.

'Hygienic and Safety protocol A-52.52.1: Wait approximately _**1 minute**_ until Immuno-booster is circulated through blood stream _**before**_ careful removal of visor.

**...**

A shallow intake of air percolated through the Quarian's lungs, her chest rising tactfully for the new experience. After the furious demand of itching her nose was satisfied, her skin began to acclimate to the foreign sensation of the flames heat, the icy breeze, and the crate's metal finish.

It was _**utterly**_ _amazing_.

Suddenly a soft 'swoosh' of a door is heard as the Normandy's port spits out the Commander.

She froze as Shepard navigated his way to his congregation of his non-alliance squad.

For the first time, Shepard saw Tali's naked head, their eyes _truly_ and _honestly_ _**locking**_ for the first time.

After what had seemed to be an eternity, Shepard approached the Quarian until they were within arm's length.

"Tali…?" His eyes never leave hers.

"…yes?"

He suddenly felt an untiring urge to hold her hand. "Your…your mask is off…"

A sheepish smile spliced her lips. "I…I know…" Her incisors show carefully through her grin.

She _needed_ to know what he was thinking.

Finally, he stood beside her to stare at the fire's flame, his hands creasing across his chest.

"Shouldn't you have it…on?" He murmured quietly, wondering whether it would be appropriate to filch for another detailed examination of her complexion.

"Yes…" Her arm extended outwards to show him the Immuno-Injector. "I bolstered my susceptibility to allergy…for now." Her head lowered to ogle her feet, her posture apparent that she was somewhat embarrassed from the unveiling.

"Tali…" Lines of worry cross his forehead as his hands brushed against her two digits delicately. "What's wrong?"

"It's…it's your reaction…" Her toes fiddle with the petite sized rocks that litter the ground. A smile drips from his expression.

"I'm just surprised." A hand is placed on her shoulder as he leaned forward to get a better look out of her. "I thought I'd never get to see what you'd look like." His words drip from his tongue after a long exhale of breath.

"You think…I'm—" A hand from Shepard rose to interject Tali, his brows opposing each other.

"Ugly?" He frowned. Her ogled gaze falls back to look over the ugly details of dirt, regretting that she ever coughed up the _stupid_ idea of taking off her mask.

"Tali…" His hands toil around themselves hesitantly before squeezing her arm again in reassurance. "You're the exact opposite. I didn't even _recognize_ you for a second."

Her heart rate increased, her pulse accelerating to an exponent unworthy of trying to count. Her wandering stare returned to Shepard's eyes.

"So…I'm—" She was once more interrupted by Shepard through a subtle and genuine whisper.

"Adorable, Tali? Gorgeous? Beautiful?" His eyes crinkle from the smile that spread across his lips.

She wanted to _kiss_ him. He took a step closer to her.

"You're a combination of any of the three..."

Despite the chilly breeze that nipped at her face, a feverish current of heat rinsed her core temperature to an unfathomably high degree.

It could contest the scorching heat of _molten_ steel.

This…this _couldn't_ be happening…

Not even in her _wildest_ dreams…

Her brows wrinkle for a moment to digest the words that she was handed.

"Shepard…" She mumbled almost incoherently, wondering if the expression was appropriate. "Is that true?"

"I don't say anything I don't mean." He replied effortlessly while etching a smirk across his face.

"Really now?" She nibbled on her lower lip, a finger reaching up to tap her chin. "If I remember correctly…" She cleared her throat to continue. "You said a lot of things to Conrad…things to him that I'm pretty sure you didn't mean."

He stumbled over himself apologetically as he searched for an excuse. "That's different, Tali…come on. He was naïve and stupid and asked for a-lot."

"Do I ask for a lot?" She teased with a playful smile.

**Kiss. Him. **

"No…Miss Zorah. You do not." He added through a warming whisper. "You're the best damn looking girl I've ever seen in this galaxy. I can say that with definitive proof."

"And what kind of proof is that?" She asked.

He tapped the side of his head in a reiterating motion.

"It's all right here. I endorse it. I am a Spectre after all."

She scoffed, her head dipping to laugh. "I'll take that endorsement, happily."

"Seriously, though Tali…" He lowered his voice to a feeble undertone. "It's really a shame you have to wear that visor."

"Look on the bright side…Shepard." Her lips crease into a sly grin. "You're truly the first person to see me for who I am."

"Good." He finished, his hands now hovering over the fire's warmth. They sit in happy silence for a sum of two minutes.

"How long before you have to put the mask back on?"

"Soon." She muttered through a gloomy sigh.

He stepped away from the fire and took a moment to stare at the helmet's curvature as it lay on the lonesome parcel adjacent to the Quarian.

"Why did you take it off?" He asked carefully when they both took a seat against the crate.

"I…wanted to feel…this." Her hands rose to accentuate the air around her. "The air…the fire…it was all too surreal…" A small giggle is released through her mouth. "That…and I had the _worst_ itch on my nose."

He laughed whole-heartedly, once more gazing at the Quarian's complexion.

It was…it was like he was…_**admiring**_ her.

Her gloved fingers ran through her hair as she massaged her scalp.

"How do you like the weather?"

"If I could Shepard…" Her words fade away like water would on desert sand. "I would live like this for the rest of my life."

"It's a feeling we take for granted…" He supplemented the conversation as his knee rose to prop his elbow.

"Yeah?" She faced him.

**KISS. HIM.**

"Guaranteed, Tali. You don't think of sand that sits under your toes…the rain that pitters across your chest…or the snow that stings your ears."

"I think I've got enough of Noveria to know I hate snow now. Even the suit couldn't keep me comfortable."

"I remember that." He replied nostalgically. "Not all snow is bad…Just Noveria. Next time…we'll hit somewhere a little warmer."

"Like Virmire?" She added, her tone sauced with memories.

"With less bullets…" He remarked

"…And Geth." She replied.

"…and Krogan." They both say at the same time. A happy laugh escapes between the two.

_**KISS! HIM!**_

She inhaled deeply, another batch of cold air coursing into her lungs. There was no adaptation to such a foreign sensation…it was just so different! Her smile grew before it was suddenly replaced by a frown.

"You know…back before I left the fleet…we used to repeat a number of rules everyday before class…" She muttered "I broke every one of them in little under a minute." She sneered mostly to herself. "It was drilled into our heads never to take off our suits unless if was absolutely necessary…Yet…I disobeyed my instincts…my training." Discontentedly, she placed the backside of her palm on her forehead, a shade of anxiety complimenting her furrowed brows.

"Yeah?" He glanced over to the unyielding spectacle of falling asteroids before meeting Tali's gaze. "I fight my training all the time Tali." He lightly touched his nose from the long removed bandage that smothered his features. "Basic never taught me to fight against mindless husks, thralls, and overwhelming hoards of Geth, all being controlled by a Reaper, a giant ass plant, and a rogue Spectre losing his mind sent to destroy the entire Galaxy...respectively."

She scoffed unknowingly, her orbs wandering to look at his handsome complexion.

More than _handsome_.

He shivered, goose-bumps surfacing across his skin.

"Good point…" She shifted to a more comfortable position against the crate.

"It's getting pretty cold…" Shepard hefts the sleeves of his fatigues down his arms before finally putting on the coat he had kept close by him for the duration of their exchange.

"Sometimes, Tali…fighting your instincts is a good thing." His hands remained intertwined in his lap as he stared intently at her.

_**And THAT'S why you should KISS HIM!**_

Soon enough, her helmet is nestled in her lap, her hands straddling the panels that flank the mask.

"I couldn't agree with you more, Shepard."

"Tali…thank you."

She stuttered somewhat degeneratively.

"About what?"

"Giving me the chance to get to know you. You've stood by me at every impossible feat...at every dead end...at every fall and turn…" He inched closer to the Quarian as an arm wrapped around her shoulder for an embrace.

"You've been by my side since the very beginning…and for that…" His other hand removed a lock of hair behind her ear delicately, their eyes locking with each other with an intensity so bright; it could make a thousand suns burn dim.

"…I thank you."

_**Kiss Her…**_

A sudden and rather loud intermittent tone emanates from her Omni-tool.

_Damnit…Damnitdamnit__**Damnit!**_

"Times up." She garbled. "I need to put it back on." The helmet is gyrated to reveal the opening.

"I'm going to miss looking at you like this…" Shepard murmured through a slight and disappointing frown.

"That's an accurate assessment. More than you could imagine." She hefted the helmet over her head, the neck seals clasping shut through a concise and coordinated pattern of steps she followed to sever the bond between her and the foreign air. She finished by draping her purple hood back over head somewhat unwillingly.

"It was something to cherish. A treat if you will." Her voice was, once more, rinsed with static, her mood gripping regretful disappointment that she couldn't fulfill her tempting wish.

"Maybe someday Tali…you'll—" Shepard was rudely interrupted by an explosion erupting within the local vicinity.

"What was that?" Her eyes widen to search for the source. The ambiance was replaced with distant screaming from the crew, their voices topped with gunfire to pepper the atmosphere with soured staccato notes.

Soon enough, Garrus fell from the crate onto the laps of Tali and Shepard, both of them sneering belligerently from the abrupt burden of Turian meat & armor. They pry him off with a disgruntled scoff, weapons prepping again for what seemed to be the inevitable.

The Krogan unclasped his Claymore before storming off the sound's origin, the others remaining behind cover, heads still clearing the lethargic coagulation that hampered their ability to think.

Suddenly, a large aerial vehicle hurtled itself over the Normandy, its propulsion system leveling out to disperse a unit of what Shepard could only guess to be soldiers. A spot-light, manned by a pair of Marines, pierced the air to reveal the ugly details of the VTOL.

"That is _not_ the Geth!" Garrus announced as he peppered the ship with his assault rifle.

Shepard's COM bead griped his ear in static before Stacker's voice bled through. "Commander! Under heavy fire! Be advised! We are fighting an unknown!" He is interrupted by the long exhale of heated tungsten. "Corporal! Suppressive—" An explosion screams over the platoon leader's voice. "Suppressive fire Heathers! Commander! Orders?!"

"Rally up as best you can with local units and fall back to the second and third bunkers if necessary!"

Another Marine screamed through the bead. "Sir! Mako is fired up and ready, orders?" An insect like shriek hemorrhaged the COM unit's static. "No! No! Get the fuc—" The unit ended with a wet piercing scream, the sounds of bone crunching under impossible pressure.

"Assume defensive positions! Engage all hostiles!" The Spectre severed the transmission, before signaling to his squad.

"Douse the damn fire!"

Nodding, Tali's eye co-sights itself with the iron sights of her side-arm, its ordnance firing into a container of water.

Its purified contents drizzle into the fire pit.

"Tali, Garrus! On me! Liara, Find Wrex! Ash, Find Stacker!" The Spectre's head perched quietly against the crates cold curvature to get a better field angle.

"Get the hell up. We're sitting ducks out here. Move out; suppress the enemy!" His posture spreads more evenly across his horizontal plane. "We need to move to the Mako!"

His hardened eyes look to both of them. "Cross the path! Move!"

The small squad of misfits slide into a foxhole, a pair of marines huddling close their Omni-tools in an attempt to fix their broken weapon.

"Bullets whizzed through our SAW, sir. It's useless!"

"What our situation looking like?" The Spectre questioned as he eyed the fractured machine gun.

"Shady, sir!" His voice attempted to yell over the loud decibels that paint the atmosphere.

"Stay here! Keep you flashlights on, and watch your damned backs! We're making our way to the Mako for support." Shepard motioned for his team to follow when a round pierced through the guard's chest. He staggered to the floor, surprised that his kinetic barrier failed to deflect the round that passed through him.

"oh…oh wow…" He coughed bitterly, his trembling hand feeling for the sticky liquid that oozed freely from his wound. "I…I don't even feel it…"

"Shit." Garrus muttered through a derided scoff as he sprinkled the flesh wound with a medi-gel packet. "I'll stay here Shepard. Go." The Turian muttered as he watched the life ebb away from the wounded human.

Tali continued to stare at the marine who gasped for air that never came.

He died in a flash, his mouth painted in blood.

_She never got used to it._

_Ever._

"Tali! Let's go! We need to move." Eventually, her eyes peeled from the dead man's face as she ran up beside Shepard, shotgun jostling in her grip.

They enter a crudely built trench that followed the bend around the Normandy's stern, its path sloping towards a tent that housed scavenged pieces of the frigate. A six man squad of marines was tasked at operating the Mako, their defense located at the ships northern quadrant.

As they ran, she doubted any of them would still be alive.

She most _certainly_ doubted she would be alive much longer herself.

Yet she still ran, her weapon in tow behind Shepard to perform the impossible.

_Again_.

Then a painful fear had spiked her reflexes, realizing that if she did die…her pilgrimage would have been forfeited; the information with it lost forever.

More importantly…what if her last moments with Shepard were running down this dirty trench without the closure to even say a good-bye? Or to say…she was in lov—

Her mind scrambled to reprioritize when a small group of foreign hostiles opened fire, forcing the pair to dive lower into the trenches mucky surface. Recovering from the nasty lunge, she eyed Shepard's _**unarmored **_body.

She returned fire with a steady hand, the weapon's slugs effectively pinning down the enemy.

"Get up, Shepard!" She fired another round towards her opponents. "We need to move!"

"My _fucking_ nose." His hand crudely grasped the assault rifle he dropped and prepped it for fire. When he did, the Mako had rolled over a hill, its chassis ramming into an alien, its remains misting the air with a heavy shade of lustrous black.

"We got you covered Shepard! Mako has been recovered!"

Their armored carrier finished its long and satisfying volley of coaxial machine gun fire before disappearing once more into the darkness in search for more targets.

She didn't get a clear view of what they were even fighting…but their technology was advanced.

_Very advanced._

They almost looked like _insects_…

It reminded her of the stories on the Flotilla about…

_The Collectors…_

It fit. _Perfectly_.

They were fighting the _Collectors_.

"Shepard." A momentary pause from fighting was allowed between her and the Commander.

"What?" The man hissed while free flowing crimson liquid bubbled from his nose.

"We're fighting the Collectors…" She eyed her surroundings with cautious observation before tracing the shotgun's sites with her hardened retina.

"Can't be…They're a myth…they have to be…" He muttered quietly before swathing his nose with a pocket cloth.

"I thought the same thing." A Collector crested itself along the trench, the deadly rifle it wielded bearing on the Spectre.

Almost instinctively, she thrust her body in front Shepard as the alien fired its deadly torrent of firepower. She took the impact in full force, her kinetic barriers failing when she collapsed onto the grimy ground.

A slow and painful exhale hissed through her bruised chest as she fell into darkness.

* * *

She eyed the hazy horizon, her breathing rhythmical to the wind's current, her hair whipping against the hospitable air stream. The sun finally receded over the Mountain's bland outline, the sky allowing its stars to take place of the sun's inky blue. Constellations of which could be seen only from Rannoch are displayed in a brilliant swirl of pallid colors that overwhelm her peripherals.

Her muscles tremble lightly, her breath's condensation seen easily in the sudden snowfall.

The weather is pitiless against her naked body, and in response, her arms do their best to conceal her breasts. Again, the biome changes, her feet now padded under dark green vegetation, the sky swallowing the eerie glow it had housed.

The thick and pale green foliage stretched into a long elongation of steel walls, the forest's canopy compressing into a dull aluminum ceiling. A bed is provided and she slipped under the covers in a desperate call for clothing.

At her left flank, a Quarian male is accompanied only by the chair he sits on, his profile hindered by the dark shadows that overcast his bare complexion.

Her muscles tighten when he spoke.

"Tali…" Shepard's voice drips off the Quarian's lips.

"Sh..Shepard?" Her sheets are twisted higher up her chest.

A toothy grin had surfaced his face before he fell back into the darkness of the corner.

"No! Wait! Shepard!" She shouted, her arm reaching out to him.

He was _too_ far.

The sheets slide off her body when she removes herself from the bed to run to him. Closing the proximity between her and the corner, strong arms lunge from under her legs to be carried, her contours jostling under a heavy jog. She smiled, cuddling closer to the arms that carried her, her luminescent eyes closing in harmony.

* * *

"Tali!" His back is hunched from the extra burden of weight that he carried, the unconscious Quarian chaffing his back with her abrasive clothing.

Despite the overwhelming discomfort that came of it, he continued to run from cover to cover to avoid his enemies, a pistol in his grimy hand for an empty sense of security.

"Shepard…" Tali's words drip from her mouth incoherently.

"Shepard!" A dark voice bellows. It was from the Krogan who stood, his feet perching a crate, his massive weapon in hand.

He leaped into the air to smash his fist into a collector, a number of shots emitting from the muzzle of his shotgun afterward to slay another trio of aliens. He growled satisfyingly when he joined the Spectre.

"What happened to her?" He grunted disapprovingly, his thick finger pointing towards Tali's unconscious form.

"She saved my damn life, Wrex. _Stow_ the shit." They both hide behind their choice of cover with Shepard's side-arm occasionally peering around the corner to fire.

The dinosaur scoffed. "Let's end this, then. I've got potato chips that I've worked up the courage to finish."

A raise of static through their radio interjected them both.

"We've got this wrapped up! Finish these bastards off!" A scruffy voice spoke, one that likely belonged to Stacker.

"Shepard and Tali aren't responding to their COM beads…anybody got a fix on their location?" Garrus' voice is left to permeate the radio silence.

"He's with me, Garrus. The Quarian is unconscious."

"How bad does she look?" The Turian asked, his voice tinted with relative hesitation.

"Superficial. Kinetic barrier took most of the hit." Shepard spoke for Wrex.

"Good news, then. The enemy is pulling back. Don't know for how long though. Stay frosty." Garrus severed the channel.

Shepard grunted as he hoisted her higher on his back to compensate for the heavy burden; one that earned an appraising eye from the Krogan.

"She's heavier than she looks, Wrex."

"I'll help if you need me too." He offered with a tight grip of his weapon.

"Without you manhandling her?" The human scoffed. "Stupid idea, Wrex."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "You love her…_don't you_?"

John stumbled over himself as Wrex continued. "I'm surprised you didn't go for Liara…or one of your own kind: Ashley. Hell. Maybe even _Garrus_ if he was interested."

"Wrex." Shepard finally managed to garble. "Do yourself a favor and _shut_ the hell up."

They turn the corner carefully when they come into contact with a collector corpse.

"See this?" Shepard pointed the muzzle at the carapace. "This is Collector. A _fucking_ Collector."

"I know." Wrex muttered.

"…Maybe they're here because of that." He thumbed the meteors with his side-arm as it traced the sky.

"If they are, their intentions are up in flames right now." Wrex and Shepard turn to face the source of footsteps from behind them, seeing that they belonged to Liara.

"There you are, Wrex." She passed the Krogan, her attention eyeing the unconscious Quarian.

"You're hard to keep up with, you know that?" The Asari's hand sourly gripped Tali's, hoping the worst had passed.

"She'll be alright, Liara." Wrex mumbled.

"She's tough. She'll pull through." The Asari's hand now squeezed Shepard's shoulder tightly.

Carefully, the Spectre eased Tali off his back to rest up against the lining of the trench.

"Regroup with Garrus and Ash. Check the area for stragglers."

"Will do, Shepard. Come on Liara. If they come back…we'll kick their asses."

"I believe it." They disappeared behind the Normandy's nose.

"Tali…" Shepard muttered with bated breath. No response came.

"Please get up…" He eyed her features, his hand absentmindedly squeezing hers.

"You need to wake up…come on…for me." His lines of worry that creased his forehead intensify into something that could pass as fear.

His dirty palm squeezed her arm for empty assurance, the gesture receptive enough to misplace her center of gravity, the preceding outcome ending with the Quarian's visor to kiss the muddy ground with a soft and wet thud.

"Shit…" He stepped in closer, his hands already leveling out her slouched posture. Afterwards, his sleeve mopped the remaining mud that adhered to the glass.

The Horizon grew brighter, his eyes iridescent to the star's bright light. Finding that it would be appropriate to bring her inside the Normandy, he propped her onto his back, his steps already fighting against the steady incline that shaped the trench.

"Damnit Tali…you're heavy."


	10. This is it

**Enjoy and review! **

* * *

**|Chapter 8|**

**|12/8/2183|**

**|Location: Planet Ulipses|**

* * *

His oxygen reserves were taxed to capacity as he gently positioned Tali's cataleptic body to rest against a crate's curve. His lungs heave for heavy breaths of air as he continued to stare, entirely unaware of his current surroundings.

Stacker approached somewhat cautiously, his chest trembling from the recent firefight. He spoke, albeit slowly to the Commander, his word's slurring on occasion.

"Eight Casualties. Two Killed, three missing." His muttered through a grated whisper, his eyes occasionally looking to the lifeless Quarian. "Is she alright?" Stacker finally pressed for an answer as the Spectre remained by Tali's side.

"We'll find out soon enough." He said, his complexion creased with lines of worry.

"We'll work on reinforcing our perimeter in the event we're attacked again. Any other orders, sir?" The sergeant's hands squeeze the handle of his weapon tightly.

"No. I trust your judgment, Sergeant. I'll keep everything under your discretion. Otherwise, notify me for a status update every fifteen minutes. I want everyone's eyes peeled during their shifts."

Shepard's eyes never strip from the layer of dust that adhered to Tali's visor.

"Send me the names of those missing. I need to know. Bury the dead. _Properly_." He whispered silently.

"Aye aye." His heels preformed an about-face before he headed back out to the perimeter of the ship to make needed repairs after the short and devastating attack.

His brows furrow, his palm wiping the beads of sweat that litter his forehead.

Things just…didn't add up.

Why would the Collector's fight them at the expense of losing men and resources?

An obvious conclusion was drawn:

They _wanted_ something.

Something _important_.

His face turned to view the wreckage that once been the Normandy.

The Drive core?

Maybe.

_It was cutting edge. _

He always remembered that the Collectors (through rumor of course) gave the impression of being engrossed with items that would be rather dispassionate to the species they traded with.

The speculation however, proved to be completely disobliging to their situation: They were stranded, attacked and running low of resources that sustained their skeleton crew. If the lack of food didn't kill them, the Collector's eventually would.

He chewed on the apprehensive thoughts that littered his brain, his imaginative hand eventually shoving the pessimistic reality to the back of his mind; wondering how he hadn't worked up the courage earlier to wrack his brain into a psychological war.

Instantly, his mind dropped its cognitive department to mull over the dull headache that he earned from heavy running.

Add the drippings of blood that dribbled from his healing nose…and it was a _party_.

Despite the winced aching that beat through his pain receptors, his attention remained fixed on the figure before him, eyes wandering for any sign of consciousness from the Quarian.

As if his prayers had been answered, a sudden and painful gasp heightens Shepard for him to see that she was finally awake.

"Tali…" He muttered breathlessly, his hand hovering over her shoulder to squeeze. "…you okay?"

She remained silent for several moments as she acquired the surroundings with an observant eye.

"I…" She stuttered as she ran through the motions to check for superficial suit breaches. "I think I'm okay…b-but I really won't know until I-I get up."

Her hand extended forward to grasp Shepard's until she is risen tactfully back to her feet.

"Minor throbbing." She noted, her hands already dancing across her legs to check for suit seals.

"Tali…" He noticed they were alone now. "You…jumped out in front of me." His eyes harden in what she guessed would be anxiety. "You know that right?"

An odd sensation channeled through her chest…a feeling that she quite _thoroughly_ enjoyed.

"War…" She stepped closer after a moment of hesitation."…makes you do some _very_ _crazy_ things."

A sigh of relief is heard from the human when he creased his arms along his chest.

"Anything you might want to highlight about _why_ you did that, exactly? You've got a _lot_ to risk out here."

She smiled absent-mindedly, her effervescent eyes focused on the commander in exclusion of all else.

"I know…" Her smile brightened. "But you're special."

Her outstretched palm, slowly and graciously, reached out to the back of Shepard's collar before drawing in close for her visor to meet his brow.

* * *

"Joker." Shepard spoke in a dismayed pretense. "I think it'd be best if you'd just…just stay in the ship."

"Yeah?" Joker's voice remained gruff as he sat on the exam table in the infirmary. "Brittle bones? Assault rifles?" He scoffed to exaggerate his point. "Don't mix well. The Recoil has a funny knack of—"

He was interrupted by the simple raise of Shepard's hand.

"Nice try Joker. Try a little harder next time when you want me to feel bad." He ended the conversation by turning on his heel to exit the med-bay as he waved to Chakwas goodbye.

He was admitted through the exit, his lackadaisical stride sauntering forward to his room.

Before he entered, he let his back lean against the wall adjacent to his quarters and thought for a moment of the events that had occurred a little over an hour ago.

His shoulders sagged, a smile tugging at his lips when he thought of the way Tali had…

…well…

… _kissed? _

_Would that be the appropriate description of what happened? _

_Bumping heads…?_

…_huh…_

Then the smile disappeared, his muscles tightening with the deadly thought of Collectors that occupied his tired mind. These might just be the last few days of which…

He pushed the cynical idea out with an imaginative fist of fury, knowing that hypothetical's like the one he had worked up the courage to make were going to get him nowhere.

Stepping off the wall, he eventually opened the door with a simple wave of his hand. His mind reeled again when he found an occupant already housed in his room.

_Tali. _

"_Hi_." She mumbled through a toothy grin.

_Her mask was off. _

_**Again…**_

He is speechless, his eyes soaking in the details he was given with an animalistic hunger.

"You're going to keep surprising me like that..." He asked as his smile intensified. "…Aren't you?"

A laugh teased Shepard's ears.

"Maybe." She replied.

"You want something to drink?" He opened the fridge packed into the wall to reveal two canisters of liquid. (One of dextrose compatibility of course)

"Please." She replied, palms motioning for him to throw it. He tossed the can, her hands bracing for the catch. With ease, her finger flips the lid and kissed its opening.

"Delicious…" She licked her supple lips afterward as she placed the beverage onto the table.

_Shepard could get used to this. _

"I'd have alcohol…but…" He shrugged, his brows lining to exaggerate his point. "But you know I hate it. And I need myself at my best."

She scoffed, albeit slightly.

"Oh, you don't mean that." Her eyes shimmer against the haptic light at the far end of the room, where the computer lay. He smiled through an attentive stare of which she returned.

He examined the cylinder in his hand with an interested eye. "I wonder what other drinks you can have besides Ginger Ale." He thought aloud.

"Club soda and one other flavor…" Her finger taps at the metal finish of the table, her other fiddling with the circular surface of aluminum.

"I looked it up…" She laughed, her attention fixated more or less on Shepard's large frame.

"I did too." Shepard remarked, his eyes wandering to the left in thought.

"Really now?" She leaned forward, her palms supporting her chin attentively.

"Yeah…" He added excitement to his words. "I don't _exactly_ remember the name…" His index finger rubbed the whiskers that litter his face. "Syalak?"

Instantly, Tali's eyes water at the mention of the disgusting food. Her tongue sticks out, lips frowning in a discordance of disappointment.

"Figures." She said at last. "The one food you can eat with me and it's the most disgusting thing that'll ever land on your taste buds."

Shepard's eyes shot up in surprise. "Really now? Enlighten me on the taste of this…_Syalak_."

She cleared her throat to begin. "There are…on extremely rare occasions, Quarian ships of which the people can remain unsuited amongst each-other without the fear of death.

His brows furrow at the introverted reveal. "No kidding? They still wear their suits anyways right?"

"Of course. They get to eat with uncovered heads though...Those…_Bosh'tets_." The jealousy in Tali's voice was evident. Shepard chuckled, his arm already being punched by the machinist. He feigned the pain, his hand hovering over his forehead to exaggerate himself immaturely. The laughter died down and she continued.

"That means, when it is available, they can eat Quarian cuisine. Of which is rare as it is." She shrugged before continuing the small culture lesson. "Among those recipes was Syalak." She shivered. "They predate the Exile." She added.

She saw the silence from Shepard as an invitation to continue.

"Anyways…it was a recipe they recovered somewhere. Somehow it was passed to our agricultural preliminaries…of which was officially passed four years ago for the live-ships to begin processing into certain types of food."

A bitter and disgusted sneer gurgled out of Tali's mouth. Her three digits are raised to reveal her index and pointer. "How in the Galaxy they approved that is beyond me." She shook her to emphasize her point.

"Is it really that bad?" His brows quirk in amusement, lips pressing against the can's surface for another satisfying swig.

"Oh, Shepard…it is."

"So does all of your food paste taste like that?" He asked as he placed his elbows on the table to rest.

"Oh heavens, no!" She sighed in relief. "There are limited selections of flavoring…but Syalak is at the very bottom of the list."

"Well then…" He pressed his knuckles together, the resulting effect ending with a charade of audible cracks in his fingers. "I guess I won't be dining on Quarian food anytime soon."

She shrugged indifferently. "Don't worry…you wouldn't be missing out on anything."

They both laugh whole-heartedly. It died down quickly, leaving them both to sip on their drinks casually for a sum of one minute.

He broke the peaceful silence with a more serious tone.

"Tali…" A momentary pause. "What you did back there. Saving me…I never got to thank you properly for that." Another heavy pause as he picked his next words carefully. "Thank you... I couldn't imagine what would have happened if you weren't there."

If Shepard didn't know any better, he thought he saw her cheeks flush into a hazy red.

Some emotions _must_ transfer almost naturally…even amongst different species.

"It's reciprocal, Shepard. I saved your life—" She pointed to Shepard before she thumbed herself. "—and I got carried by the dashing Commander." She said through a loquacious tease…One strong enough to send a shiver of pleasure down Shepard's back. She finished with another sip of her sizzling beverage.

He stared intently through the silver eyes that were owned by the Quarian, his gaze mulling over her gorgeous complexion.

_Stunning beauty. _

"So." He began through a whisper. "Why did you do it?"

"I already told you." She answered. "You're special." Her lips tug into a lazy grin.

"And in what way is that?" He once more propped himself on the table's surface to highlight his desire for elaboration.

"Don't be coy, John." Tali's spoke his first name; the words rolling off her tongue like butter would on a hot knife. It almost made Shepard pant. Her eyes now caressed the Commander's face. "You and I know _exactly_ why..."

_Being called by his first name? He could __**definitely**__ get used to this._

There was no nervousness…or embarrassment, or even pressure. She spoke clearly from her heart and mind, the gears of her consciousness moving as one.

"Yeah?" His head nodded slowly in agreement. "Why do you think I saved you from what you did?" He questioned with a small grin. His inquiry was a slight shrug.

"I'm hoping for the same reason?" Her smile had welcomingly displayed her sharp incisors.

"Well, you _are_ a valuable asset to the team…" He spoke sarcastically, the snarky remark beckoning for another punch to the arm. "Or that snazzy gift for your people when you return from pilgrimage."

"I…may never get to go back and give the data to the fleet, John…" Her voice never lowered into a scornful note. "That's why I came here." Her hand now touched his. "You of all people realize this." She pointed out rather bluntly. There was no worry in the words she spoke.

"I'm sorry." His eyes harden, his stare fixating to the bland details of the table.

"Don't be."

"You are right …it may very well happen." His eyes wander back to the woman; silver orbs piercing through him.

The exposure felt as if his weaknesses became transparent.

_He didn't know what to make of it._

Finishing the drink, John removed himself from the chair before tossing his trash in the receptacle. As he turned around, he was surprised to see how Tali had approached him so silently.

Their proximity closed until he could feel the soft exhale of air she held in her breath.

"Promise me, John…that whatever happens…we'll stand by each other until the end…"

"I promise."

They embraced, her nose gliding softly against Shepard's smooth skin.

**...**

Shepard woke from his slumber.

He found Tali's body lining against his from behind, an arm draped over his chest that interlocked with his hand.

For once in Shepard's life, he felt at peace.

Despite the impending doom they had once again thrust themselves in; he let his mind wander into ignorance, the blissful ideology that drenched his mind into relaxation.

He wouldn't care if he spent the last of his days like this.

_This is __all__ he __wanted__. _

_It was __all__ he __needed__._

He would enjoy every second of..._this_.

His hand, tightly locked with Tali's, hovered over his heart; thumb stroking the soft glove that covered her palm.

The Universe had never felt more perfect; he cogitated as his eyelids grow heavy under the thickening sensation of exhaustion.

His lips curved into an inward smile, mind sinking deeper into darkness.

**...**

Tali's suit had acclimated to their close proximity, the resonating heat coaxing her muscles into relaxation.

Her bulky fingers softly brushed Shepard's chest, the idled beat of his heart tickling her spirits into a myriad of orgasmic pleasure. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, her eyes brimming with a parcel of satisfaction.

_She finally knew __how Shepard felt__ about her. _

Words would be fruitless in attempting to illustrate the feeling she felt. The pulsing sensation was almost _too_ much.

Still. She wanted _more_.

…That…_spark_ of desire.

_In what form though?_

Her mind dwelled on some rather…exotic ideas…

She squeezed John closer to her body, knowing that…

…_If she wanted to… _

_These days might be her last. _

_Was it crazy to even think of it?_

_Absolutely._

_Did she care?_

_No._

_The only thing stopping her was the heavy shade of hesitation of whether or not Shepard would be even be…interested…_

…_Or if she'd be following a dead end. _

_It certainly didn't seem like that…after all they'd been through…It just—_

_She quashed the thoughts like she would throw a Geth out of an airlock. _

_Disdain was __not welcome__ at a time like this._

_She should be happy with what she has now._

Her thoughts are reset, her mind resolute with her current presence.

Tali then thought of her affection.

So this is what it was like?

Pure Love…

Her free hand propped her head to serve as a pillow, her tactile reference attentive to the radiation that exuded from the Commander. Nothing could compete with this…if it was truly her choice…she'd remain like this for the _rest_ of her life.

However…the realist in her knew the real ending: They'd eventually be separated, either from the inevitable death the Collectors had so openly welcomed…or the much needed rescue from the Human Alliance.

_Neither_ of those sounded appealing.

A contemptuous scoff permeated through her helmet, her teeth gritting under pessimistic negativity that once again managed to crawl its way to the surface of her cranium.

Sweat beaded at her brow when she applied thought to their impending ultimatum.

Her hierarchy of judgment lowered several levels as the pessimism subsided, leaving her with only the company of John for her to dawdle on.


	11. Virmire

**READ:**

**A/N:Two more songs are out:**

**1.) Virmire Conflict**

**2.) Virmire Survival**

**(Tailored for this chapter's overall theme.) **

**Enjoy!**

**and Review! **

* * *

**|Approx. two months ago…|**

**|Chapter 9|**

**|10/16/2183|**

**|Location: en-route to planet: Virmire|**

* * *

The orange glow of the haptic HUD receded, the hologram now replaced with lines of text for Tali to review.

The report remained unseen; her attention more troubled over the yawn and stretch she let loose across her body. Her arms extend upward, toes flexing to heighten her vertical plane.

The breathing apparatus seal is ruptured, the temporary brake allowing condensation to condense onto the visor's interior.

"Great." She mumbled through hiss, the glossy anomaly testing her patience.

"Something wrong Tali?" The Senior Engineer adjacent to her leveled his head from the data-pad to stare at the young machinist.

"Ah…it's nothing Engineer Adams…Just…a blotch on my visor." Her finger traced the lining of mist that powdered the glass.

The human laughed through a half-hearted chortle as he nodded in response, his eyes already returning to dig through the tablet he held in his hands.

The obscurity remained on the polished glass as she returned to work; knowing the effort to continue would be useless.

"Adams…Requesting permission to temporarily relief myself of duty."

"Granted." He stationed himself at his usual console with a tablet tucked underneath his arm as he typed. "No need to ask. Take care of yourself."

"Thank you." Carefully, she navigated her way toward the elevator, her arm gliding along the walls for guidance.

Before she was admitted through the elevator, Garrus approached her flank, his hand swiping over the panel to call the lift.

"Hey." His voice is low, his hands dancing across the haptic light that served as his Omni-tool.

"Hey." She answered lightly.

"Mako's gonna need a new coaxial machine gun." A pertinent scoff managed to escape his gullet. "Managed to put some nasty scratches along the grooves of the barrel. Ones big enough that'll blow up the drum with the next round we put through it."

"Sounds more like cracks." She added, her eyes idly looking to see if the elevator made it to their deck yet.

"Indeed." His tool is removed from view as he eyed her faceplate.

"Nasty little stain you got there. How often does that happen?"

"Only when I yawn…or if my suit's life-support is failing." She replied nonchalantly before crossing her arms across her breasts.

His brow is lined in worry at the feigned revelation. "Seriously?"

"No, Garrus. I'm just kidding." She jested impishly. Garrus scowled, his head shaking as he took a step backward.

"I should have seen that coming."

The elevator's doors open, a soft chime inviting the pair into the small cabin. They both step inside, their heels turning to face the sliding doors. Their conversation continued.

"We got some purified Turian food for the next time we eat. Come up for lunch later today."

"I'll be happy to take you on that offer." She smiled, the doors closing, the lift initiating the slow rise to her room's level.

"Not that it tastes much better…after trying some of your paste." His jaw widened as they wait for the elevator to ascend.

"You…?" It was her turn to ogle the Turian's features. "…ate some of my food?"

"Well…" He shrugged; his shoulder's almost rising to meet his mandibles. "…yeah…though it wasn't really an experience worth sharing." His arms then fold over his chest, his eyes never peeling from the dial for the upcoming floor. "Shepard convinced me to eat some at our last restock point. The one you never went to." He glimpsed to survey the humorous quirks the Quarian gave as she sputtered for words.

"Garrus!" She asked through a disbelieving yell. Tali's fist met air when she tried to punch his arm.

"Whoa there! A little blind, aren't we?" He laughed, his arms rising to his chest defensively.

"You're an _ass_." She waddled back upward to level her balance after nearly falling.

"No Tali…" The elevator doors open to let the Quarian out. "I don't think I am." His bony plates rise, his voice lightened from the amusing exchange. "I'll see you later."

"Remember, Garrus…"

The Turian finished the sentence.

"I know. You've got the shotgun." The elevator doors closed once more, its lonely occupant leaving toward the CIC.

Her arms extend outward as she ambled forward in an awkward posture, hands serving as feelers for her room's entrance panel.

Find the unremarkable metal button, she pressed it and entered, her outline swathed in a hazy mist of sterilizing fluid.

Stepping onto the bland aluminum plates that served as a floor, she alleviated the neck fastenings by removing her helmet.

_Much, Much better. _

With a tasteless stare, she placed the visor down onto the bed to fetch a cloth and cleaning solution to remove the pitiful smudge.

Afterwards, she'd take a visit to the CIC.

Just to see what Shepard was up to.

* * *

Shepard.

Was a very _smart_ man.

A man forged by training and experience that inevitably amalgamated into his subconscious…

…an invasive incorporation into the very fabric of his bone and blood.

The integration was evident in his posture.

His personality.

His Career as an Alliance Naval Officer.

But _this_?

_This_ was different.

Tali wasn't entirely prepared to see the Commander's lethargic mood that was detained under the time that could be spent watching paint dry on a Dreadnaught's hull.

"What are you doing?" She asked through a perplexed and untactful stare.

"Spinning the Galaxy map 'round in circles as fast I can, Tali. The heck does it look like I'm doing?"

The haptic interface obeyed Shepard's command with every finger swipe of the map, the Milky Way's spirals spinning fast enough to imitate the way a child would hold a pin-wheel out of a window on a windy day.

The spectacle had earned an occasional pair of eyes to watch the Commander's unusual audacity to carry out an immature performance…especially in the company of his subordinates.

A mundane grunt bubbled from Presley's mouth when he relaxed in the soft companionship of his collapsible chair, his creased lips pressing against a mug's aluminum trimming to sip his dark brew.

"How…long have you been doing this?" Tali asked as she stepped up to the CIC plate.

"Twenty minutes…tops." He remarked after a thoughtful moment of silence.

"More like an hour, Shepard." Garrus remarked as he passed by. The commander's eyes twinge in a moment of apathy before he faced the Quarian again.

"Okay then." He inhaled quickly. "Maybe it was an hour."

"huh." The grunt slipped from her tongue unknowingly.

"I know. It doesn't look productive." A smile proceeded to flash his teeth. "But I've managed to spin this and send a report to Alliance command and the preliminary executives in just the last half hour alone."

Another inhale of air.

"…and ordering people around the ship to maintain status quo."

"You're point?" A hand is drawn against her hip.

"Well…There isn't one." He shrugged, his lethargic smile dusted with boredom. "I'm just…jaded."

"Then I see that destiny has pitted us against the odds." She added as she leaned forward onto the CIC railing herself.

"It would seem so." He felt for the subtle euphoria of hairs that grew on his chin, waiting for the inevitable shave that was to come next morning.

"This would never happen on the Flotilla." She picked at the loose fabric of her suit.

"It drives me mad. I can only imagine what it's like with you." He mentioned through a passive stare.

"Bad enough for me not to want to think about, admittedly."

They sit in merriful silence as they watch the Galaxy continue its endless course of rotations.

"Want to fiddle around with the Galaxy map?"

"Sounds like fun…" She accepted with a glinted smile.

"Good." A button hidden discreetly on the underside of the railing is pressed by his nimble hand, activating a Haptic HUD that materialized at eye-level.

"This menu allows for assessments to the Normandy and its..." He tensed for a moment as he looked over the Normandy's readouts. "1.37 percent augmentation for Eezo Manifestation…K4 Carburizer Couplings still holding…You do this Tali? Thought the Tantalus charge would have been compromised..."

_Shepard can talk tech?! _

Tali's eyelids quiver in excitement as he spoke of the Normandy's diagnostics.

The way Shepard talked about the read-outs was strikingly impressive…

…if not_ sexy… _

"Oh I see…" He mumbled almost incoherently as he eyed the assessment. "You've managed to refrigerate our armament…expose the barrel to the vacuum like a heat sink. That'd explain why I heard the hatches opening earlier…"

That was _definitely_ sexy talk.

"This…this entire time…you've never told me you were—"

"A machinist? An Engineer?" Shepard smirked, his grin imitating something that could pass as an ego. "I am…but I downplay it for the girls who are impressed with dirty tech." He laughed.

_Swoon…definitely a swoon. _

"So the Commander is a tech savvy huh?" Her arms crease over her chest to test the commander's ability. "There's a set of attenuators in the primary power transfer system—" She urged for Shepard to finish for her.

"—that channels power into the field bleed for proper electrical dissipation." He added confidently prior to pushing his explanation further: "They're T-6 AGB junctures housed within the deck panel adjacent to the lower left A-5 heat temperance thermal duct." His feet spread apart at an odd angle. "If you're at the right spot…you can feel her hum."

Oh…_Keelah_…that was the most _titillating_ thing she'd ever heard him say…

"That…was impressive, Shepard." A teasing laugh from Tali gave Shepard a reason to stare back at her.

"I couldn't keep it quiet forever, Tali." A chiseled grin was put into order, before Joker's voice bled over the intercom.

"Admiral Hackett's on the line, Shepard. You want me to patch it through?"

"Go ahead, Joker." Shepard's fist hovered over his mouth, cleared his throat, and stood straighter.

"Hackett here, Commander." The officer's voice croaked, his gruff voice more strained then usual.

"Yes Admiral?"

Tali remained by Shepard's side as she toyed with the map display.

"I wanted to congratulate you. Your success on Noveria was one to keep in the books." A pause between Hackett's words. "It was unfortunate that we couldn't have detained Matriarch Benezia...but wasn't unexpected. It was still the right call."

Then his voice is darkened with a condescending notion as he reviewed Shepard's report of unsettling research found on Noveria.

"…and the Rachni…you made the right choice with them Commander. We trust your judgment. The Alliance, in spite of the current political storm that has been brewing amongst the council, does have your back."

"Thank you sir." Shepard's eyes harden at the mention of Peak Fifteen and the incident that followed…mostly for Tali's well being. He touched up on the subject for her sake…but the rest was up to her to overcome.

"You're making us proud, Commander. Hackett out." The Intercom's steady crackle of static eventually ended, leaving the dull hum of the Normandy's drive core to ambulate the frigate's interior.

"Come on Tali. Let's go." He stepped off the observation platform, his shoes squeaking under the steep incline. With a simple press of a button, the haptic interface dissipated, leaving only empty air to fill in the small void. She followed behind him, legs moving silently to his cabin.

"It'll be a day or so before we make it to our destination." Shepard spoke, eyes held forward as they stepped down the flight of stairs together.

"What do you think we'll find down there?" They reach the end, their feet guiding them to the captain quarters housed at the last bend.

"Geth…" He extends an open hand for her to step inside.

"Lot's of Geth?" She added, waiting for an invitation to sit.

"…and Krogan." Shepard motioned for her to pick a chair.

"Lot's of Krogan?" Tali's brows quirk, a smile gliding over her incisors.

"Mhmm." He opened his small fridge and removed a small tray food for consumption. "You don't mind if I eat do you?"

"Not at all, Shepard."

"Missed lunch. This sandwich will have to do." He lets the plate rest on the table's metal finish, hands already squeezing the bread for him to take a bite. She watched, eyes watering at the site of the seemingly delicious food.

"You want some?" He shoved the plate towards her mockingly, a mouthful of food making his words slur incoherently.

"I'll…pass. You know…Immune problems and all." Her hands point at herself accusingly, the joke brightening her mood.

"Oh come on. Just a bite." Idly, he pricks a piece of cheese and lets it hover over her face. "You'll love this."

_That…yellow thing…dangled like…thick gel…_

He pushed the sickly colored concoction closer to where he guessed her mouth would be.

"Do you just…slot it…in there or what?" His smile widened, eyes crinkling in amusement.

She swats at the square accusingly. "Cut that out. I don't even know what that is."

"Cheese. It comes from Cows. Earth animal." His hands place the cheddar back into his sandwich as he searched for right place to scrounge another bite out of.

"Wish I could eat meat." She mocked as she fingered the food.

"You know…" He spoke between bites. "You've told me a lot about your people...your family." He eyed the lettuce and tomato smothered in tart mustard. "But you've never heard me talk about mine."

"Well…" She sat back in her chair thoughtfully, her courage working up the strength to formulate a string of inarticulate words. "I've…admittedly wanted to know for a long time…but I didn't want to push buttons that I shouldn't be pressing." She shrugged.

"What do you wanna know?" His hands wipe the corners of his lips before clearing his throat to look at her.

"What was earth like?"

"Earth…" Nostalgia washed over him. "…Knew it only from a vid. Lived on ships my whole life."

His hand imitates a gun and pretends to shoot her. "That's why I know so much about ships. Father was a Captain. Mom was an XO on the SSV Demeter."

"Wow…prestigious."

"I…did have a lot of pressure, yes. But you…that's a whole other scale." The sandwich is long gone, his disposable plate already thrown in the receptacle neighboring his desk.

"Anything to highlight during your years as a child?"

Excitement burned through her eyes as she waited patiently for a story.

"Sometimes…I'd…just look at the stars. Watch the ships that pass by." His eyes are pointed downward while his lower lip curled into a pensive whisper. "And I told myself that I was going to be a soldier one day like my parents." He laughed. "And I was for a while. Despite the Naval rank that I own…it was overruled with the operational standard of N7 A.I.T. training. It was an asset that deemed to be vital enough for a 're-assessment' of my abilities." He shrugged.

"So…my service record somehow etched the idea that I'm a front-liner."

Shepard's eyes seemingly dim under the revelation.

"Because of…my upbringing…" His voice is potently quieter, eyelids shutting for a moment as he spoke. "_and_…of Akuze…I was selected to become a Spectre candidate…and the whole nine-yards. Now I'm the guy that's on the ground…kickin' down doors."

It was almost as if he was disappointed with the aspects of his life.

Tali certainly hoped she wasn't the one to bring him under such duress.

"But I wouldn't have it any other way, Tali." His facial features soften as he looks to her faceplate. "Meeting you and Garrus…hell even Wrex…it was honor…and someday…I feel that when the call will be needed again after this…"

His words are left hanging for a heavy moment as Tali continued to listen to her Commander.

Her _Captain_.

"We'll find ourselves in the unenviable position of banding together to once more face the impossible."

His concluded words ended with a soft sigh, and for Tali, the words only bleed truth.

"To the total and absolute end, Shepard." She boasted proudly, nodding in agreement at his powerful sentiment.

His eyes soften, fingers already unperturbed from the cool touch of the table's dull surface.

"On a brighter note, Tali…we've got a days worth of rest before we see what Virmire has for us." His posture is lamed when he spoke.

"Indeed we do…I've relieved myself of Engineering duty for the time being…" She thumbed the door, her arm reaching over to squeeze the fabric of her suit.

"Then why don't you and I find something to pass the time with… Shall we?"

"Yojh'na. Hija Bassip Sef'alu ka Speh'loma Tipethe."

Shepard's forehead is lined with indiscreet confusion.

The Quarian's voice becomes misgiving, the tone concerned and worried.

"Kokesfma'ash Pou'ya?"

"Whoa Tali…can't understand you…" His eyes search across the metal grates for the possibility of losing his small translation bead. "I think my translator fell off…"

"Speh'sa Mulasla Rie'eal, Shepard?" Her eyes pick at the floors immaculate design, hoping that she'd see the little electronic.

With little more than mustered laugh, Shepard found the device, waved it in front of Tali before placing it discreetly behind his ear.

"Does it still work?" She spoke English again, a smile evident in the way she spoke.

"Whew. I thought I'd almost lost that for a second there." He feigned the worry with an exasperated sigh. "That Khelish sounds like a real tongue twister there."

She is quiet for a moment before speaking.

"Do you remember the nights when we couldn't sleep? When you and I on 5th cycle sat at the lunch table?" She asked quietly, fingers brushing against each-other like partners dancing in a soft afternoon. He nodded, his eyes leveled at hers.

"I'd look up English on the extranet. I've been…" Her throat cleared for her to continue. "…getting fairly good at it."

"Really now?" His elbows lean forward, eye-lids quivering in curiosity.

"Oh yes…"

"I'll be the judge of that. Come on, let's hear it!" Shepard's arm crossed over his chest, the other waving for her to proceed. Tali stammered, her innocent aura welcoming the usual bubbly nervousness that Shepard secretly learned to love.

"N…No Shepard…I—I'm not _that_ good…"

He thumbed his chest, his hand swiping off the crumbs of his meal that littered the table. "Come on. We'll look back on this and laugh at the memories we've made.

Her shoulder's sag, her face rising to look at the ceiling in defeat.

"Fine…" Hesitantly, her linguistic application is removed from her audio receptors, leaving her relatively soft spoken after a moment of unreceptive silence.

Shepard's hands hover neatly over his mouth expectantly, waiting for his chest to heave an escapade of laughter to bellow across the bland walls of the room.

"Say: Hi."

"Hiee." Her thick fingers are interlocked tightly, shoulders tucked neatly at her sides.

"Come on Tali…say something." He pressed her for more, his brows rising to equate the interest that grew.

"Iie lieke putdding onn bootsss?"

Shepard howled in laughter, his head nearly touching the table, chest asphyxiating from the hilarious demonstration.

Through a berated scoff, her hands reactivate the lingual app.

"Never again." She spoke, her finger pointing accusingly at his chest.

"I promise." As the laughter died down, a tear streaks across his cheek, leaving them both to stare at each other.

_Awkwardness...it simply didn't exist between their bond. _

_They've grown too close for that. _

"Seriously though..." Her palms support her head, her back leaning in for comfort. "How did I do?"

"Pretty good Tali…it was cute."

Her cheeks flush red, her core toasting her skin uncomfortably.

"Oh please." Her hand swayed forward in a reiterating movement.

"I meant it!" He countered, a smile placed squarely on his jaw.

"Well…thank you…Compliments like that are about as easy as finding a veil's twin." She lets the hood of her fashioned clothing twirl easily around her deft fingers.

"A veil's twin? Human's say a 'dime a dozen'."

"Dime…a dozen…" She repeated through a quite whisper. "You're a dime a dozen…Shepard." She murmured almost incoherently…her hands twitching nervously, her urge to hold the human's hand suppressed with a weighted and lengthy moment of hesitation.

"I don't believe that, Tali."

"Why is that?" Her brows guide themselves ponderingly, waiting for an answer.

"I…I've got some pretty good reasons why." His eyes fixate to the plain features of the room, his sudden disclosure of depression chipping away at Tali's cheerful spirits.

"Is it because of your past…Shepard?" Her hand finds its way to rest on top of Shepard's; hoping comfort would bring the commander some needed peace.

He remained unspoken, his pupils dilated in committed thought. Absentmindedly, his palm is placed over hers.

"You remember last week…when we spoke of Akuze..."

She nodded through a solemn motion.

"As I said…it never leaves you." His hand tightened around her digits, leaving silence to hold both of them in the empty air.

* * *

**|Chapter 10|**

**|10/17/2183|**

**|Location: Hoc System/Sentry Omega/Planet Virmire|**

* * *

She sits in the sand, hands straddling the granules, the grip tight on the micro-sized grains that make up the shore of the beach.

A requisition officer stood nearby, a cloth dangling from his belt; one that reeked with dirt and grime from the intense cleaning he was inducted with.

If she weren't at war against Saren, and their objective was to relax on the bleached white shores of the ocean…

She _might_ have enjoyed the view.

Everything about this planet was deceptive.

The bright waters and foliage that patterned the planet's crust with rich pastels was corrupted by Saren's manipulative capabilities.

The tainted and ignoramus paint that colored the flavorful attitude of the contemptuous Quarian was _anything_ but happy.

"What brought you here?" The Salarian inquired as his fingers find moot reasons to take apart a weapon he carried.

"Pilgrimage, at first." She said through a meditative murmur. "Then the opportunity arose to help the bigger picture." She added, hands clenching once more to grate the sand. "I find the situation to be fitting." She concluded, her blank stare eyeing the waves that tenderly stroke the shoreline.

"Indeed, my Quarian friend."

Silence overtakes the two, leaving them to their thoughts.

Minutes pass before the Salarian Officer spoke again.

"I hope to see you on the other side when this is all over…Keelah'Selai, my friend. May your ancestors guide your every step until the very end."

"Keelah'Selai."

* * *

"This is where we split up. You know the mission parameter." Shepard let his weapon drop between his legs as he eyed the changing terrain features. "We'll cover more and attack more efficiently if we engage in tandem. Maintain disciplined radio contact."

He turned to his team. "Garrus. Tali. On me." He motioned with a simple wave of his hand and they fall in line.

"Ash. You have Wrex and Liara. Diverge right. Assume Krogan. Standard engagement at your discretion…Watch your vectors."

"Aye Aye." They slip off the rocky incline, their feet staggering before disappearing behind the topographic feature that fissured into the rocky earth.

"All perimeter units…displace to external hard points and prepare for standard assault."

"Roger, Mannovai. Engaging choke-points. Sector index one advancing on contacts. Standard suppression: external perimeter."

Shepard's voice joined the charade of radio chatter. "Shadow team preparing for infiltration. Stand-by."

"Roger, Shadow. God Speed."

"Alenko…" Shepard omits the military formality. "…Good Luck."

"Likewise sir. I'll remain optimistic that my marines and I will make it through."

"Good. Keep your men and the STG in good hands, Lieutenant. We'll cross this fire together."

* * *

Three figures Rappel along the cavern's wall, boots touching against the soft surface of stone, the mist of a nearby waterfall dense enough to obscure their dutiful progress.

The Quarian and Turian flank the Human, their hands moving freely amongst the line that held them at their ninety degree angle.

"Keep it steady…"

"Let's make it fast. The STG team isn't going to be able to hold out too long against the Geth." Tali spoke, her hands gripping tightly at the cable located behind her. The metal hinges clasp lightly against her harness.

"Agreed." Shepard's face was saturated from the waterfall's thick vapor as he spoke.

Their feet touch down, the sand warping into concave depressions.

"Eyes open. Check your corners." Their weapons are leveled to their surrounding plain.

"Our objective is at the next bend here." Garrus points to the column of rocks that stand tall, their ranks joined by a riverbank lined with undergrowth and sand.

They move in a staggered formation around the stream until they meet their objective:

An outpost adorned with flora, its base secured by four soldiers.

"Contact. Three Geth soldiers. Leader's a Krogan."

"Plan of action?" Garrus asked through a grumble.

"Hold back. Line up your shot with the Krogan." Shepard's eyes are narrowed, pupils dilated into a predatory figure. He looks to Tali.

"I want you to move up close." He whispered through his throat mic. "The rocks will cover your advancement. The white water will help guide your foot steps. Up at that point, engage at your discretion. I want your attack pinned against the Geth."

"Copy. Moving in now."

The three separate, their minds focused on their tasks with inapprehensible efficiency.

She ambled forward cautiously, the sounds of her foot steps dwarfed by the rushing waters next to her. At the last 7 yards, she lay prone, crawling slowly until she lay within 4 meters of the seemingly bored patrol.

"In position." She murmured, her shotgun cradled into her hands in an upright position to limit the sand that could hinder the internal functions.

"Garrus has a visual on you, Tali. We'll be firing in tandem. Wait after the second shot is fired to ambush."

"Copy."

A pertinent crackle of rifle fire overtook the river's noisy rapids.

A fleshy impact.

Another 160 decibel crack rings around the calm ambience.

_Thump_.

She rolled across her side, shotgun pointed upwards. She fired, the incendiary shell catching the first soldier in the chest, the components inside ripped free from the unit's cavity.

Another chorus of rifle fire was heard, taking the last trooper in the head.

"We're advancing on your six Tali. Last contact retreated back behind the building." Shepard spoke after a grunt.

"We'll engage together." She concluded through the mic.

"Copy."

Her shotgun is raised, its iron sights lining with her eye as she scanned her immediate perimeter.

Before she could accurately react, the lone machine snapped its rifle at the wall's bend before firing.

Her kinetic barriers warped the air in front her, the brilliant display of bright blue deflecting the rounds from the rifle. She fired instinctively, finger clenched on the trigger, teeth gritting in fright.

The shotgun's slug flung itself through the Geth's rifle, the explosive cartridge sending fragments of frayed metal into haphazard directions.

Unfazed by the sudden loss of its weapon, it lunged forward and caught Tali across the chest, her weapon flying from her grip.

She screamed in panic, the created and creator tumbling towards the sand.

Shepard and Garrus see the scene unfold; their jogging turning into a full fledged sprint.

Through Shepard's helmet, his eyes widen in rage and terror, his arm extending outwards with fingers outstretched, hoping he could make it in time.

"_**TALI**_!"

A synthetic hand is clenched into a balled fist, its ocular eye calculating its options in nanoseconds.

She reached for the robotic fist before it made contact with her visor, its strength superseding her own.

Her knee had thrust forward into the Geth's groin, hoping to deter the potent and deadly threat that cradled itself above her.

Hopeless.

A single arm pins the Quarian into the sand, observing the stiletto that Tali kept at her calf. Digging its arm deeper into her chest, the machine reached for the knife and observed its options.

It removed the dagger, its glowing optics facing the Turian.

A flick of the Trooper's wrist sent the blade towards Garrus; the gyratory whip slicing into the Turian's thigh.

He crumpled, hands searching for ground as he fell, helmet hitting a rock, rifle falling into the white water.

"_Fuck_!"

Shepard pushed on, his rage only further intensifying.

That _Geth_ was going to _die_.

Its ocular eye met Tali's visor once more.

A _creator_.

"Speh'sa Jajuma speh Bosh'tet!" The Quarian screamed before wrenching herself free from its grip with a rotary roll.

It watched the creator recover from the revolving twist, before his eye focused on the human.

The machine composed a flash fabricated barrier mere inches from the Commander's face, forcing the human to bludgeon his own head against its Nano-byte make-up.

The man fell backwards, eyes dazed and glossy from sudden incapacitation.

Leisurely, the Geth's bipedal feet sauntered forward, its torso lowering to retrieve a weapon from a fallen ally.

Finding familiarity again, the Geth fixated on the Quarian.

Slowly, it approached Tali and waited.

"Jaj'umal." She hissed, venom dripping for her lips.

Its eye stared patiently for orders, unbeknownst that its IFF was _severely_ compromised.

The Quarian's shotgun, sweltered by the incendiary rounds that passed through the muzzle, kissed the Geth's stoic optical unit.

A single pull of the trigger warped the synthetic head into a pulpy mess of artificial fluid and shrapnel. It hung for a moment before finally dropping into the sand to join its fallen comrades.

Her fear, finally distilling from the recent and traumatizing heat of battle, beleaguered her trembling chest as she turned toward her commander.

"Shepard!" She screamed as she ran towards him.

"Shepard!" She dropped to her knees, hands touching his chest plate in hopes to feel life underneath his loaded rig.

"Ugh…" He woke from the temporary coma, hands already pressing against his bruised forehead.

"Are you alright? C-Can you move?"

"Helmet—took most of the hit, Tali. I'm fine." He winched himself into a sitting position before looking to see Garrus.

The Turian propped himself against a singed rock before his open palm reached for the knife's rubber handle rooted near his groin.

"Go see if Garrus is okay…Just…just give me a second…"

She nodded in solemn acknowledgement before leveling her glowing orbs at Garrus.

The Turian's eyes, rife with an ascetic and _nearly_ tolerant stare, flashed toward Tali's. His bitter and perturbed expression fell when he winced from his palpable wound. "Spirits…"

His mandibles flare before laboring his jaw with clenched teeth. His prominent blue eyes squeeze shut before removing the protruding anomaly. The steady exhale from his plated lips made the young woman cringe.

"Here." His armored fingers twirl the lusterless blade until the knife rests in his palm; handle outward for Tali to accept.

"I'm sorry, Garrus."

His eyes bore into the Quarian's glass for a long moment. "Don't be."

He removed himself from their short exchangebefore thrusting his gauntlets into the water to fetch his drenched weapon.

"Tali. I almost _lost_ you." Shepard approached the Quarian from behind as she turned to face him.

"That single trooper almost killed all of us." She turned away. "…and it was my fault. I can't _believe that just_ happened."

"No it wasn't." His brows furrow.

"We're _wasting_ time…" Garrus growled tactlessly. They both look to see the Turian's gloved fingers gripping tightly around a weapon dripping freely of water..

"You're right." Tali wavered with an audible sigh. "We need to move."

* * *

"-This exchange, is over." The sentient war-machine concluded; the pivotal plucks of its voice potent with hatred far beyond anything Shepard could ever try to comprehend.

His jaw is chiseled into an icy grimace, brows nearly meeting his eyelids in anger.

"We need to rendezvous with Ash's team." His voice is darkened, eyes never peeling from where Sovereign's holo was projected.

"Garrus. Take point."

He answered with action, hands gripping tighter on the handles of his weapon.

The group of three move forward at a quick pace.

"Commander!" Their COM beads flare.

"Alenko. Sit-rep."

"Condition three, we're holding!"

"Roger Alenko. Stick with the OPORD. We'll meet you at the bomb-site."

"Copy." The flame of static ended and they advanced, once more, back toward ground zero.

"I want a perimeter! Get some men on those ledges! I want a superior firing line!" The Spectre snarled as he pointed to the ledge above.

"Stacker!" The Commander spoke loudly for his Platoon Sergeant to hear. "Vantage points at your discretion!"

"Yes sir!" The seasoned veteran stormed off, his forty men in tow, eyes picking at the tactical advantages surrounding them.

"Ash! Status on the ordnance?"

"Nuke is in position, commander. Waiting for final initiation of countdown sequence."

"Tali. Handle the logistics. I want the timer set at 15 minutes."

"Aye Aye." She set to work, her two digits already sprawling across the Omni-tools interface.

"Where's Kaiden? Operation Order dictated he was supposed to be here almost ten minutes ago…" Garrus spoke up as he approached Shepard's flank.

"Williams. Contact the Lieutenant."

A violent ambience reverberates through Ashley's COM bead.

"Alenko! Where are you?"

"Pinned down! Things are starting to get ugly!"

"Hold on, LT, I'm coming!" Ash's chest tightens, her arm already reaching for her assault rifle.

"Belay that! You will remain at the bomb-site as per mission parameter." Alenko's voice screamed over the sound of gun fire.

"Negative! You can court-martial me after this. I will _not_. lose. you."

"Be advised! We have fifty plus hostiles converging on our northbound vector! Suppress! _**Suppress**_!"

Eyes widened and brimmed with fear; she faced her commander and spoke: "We need to save him Shepard…I…can't lose him."

Shepard's eyes harden at the woman's words.

"Go Ash. I won't stop you." A disconcerted frown had plastered the man's face. "Come back in one piece."

She nodded, her feet carrying forward into a guided sprint, arms tugging at the weapon she held in her hands.

"You really going to let her do that?" The respectful demeanor from the Turian is soldered; obscured by his fruitless and quiet murmur.

"I'm not going to refuse somebody a glimmer of hope when it's all they have left." Shepard's exasperated sigh is perpetuated with worried lines that litter his forehead.

"Shepard! Geth are right on time! They're dropping in hot!" The platoon leader announced himself through the radio subsequent to the repulsive chorus of weapons fire.

"Roger Stacker. Stead fast. Tali's priming the nuke as we speak." His hand hovered over his throat mic before he spoke again.

"Ash. You have a fifteen minute window to get Kaiden back before we rendezvous with the Normandy. Please. Don't fail."

She didn't respond.

"They're already overwhelming us! Retreat to second firing line! Bravo-2: Provide suppressive fire!" Stacker shouted, his hands waving in reiteration.

Tali huddled behind the giant bomb with her legs crossed, her knees submerged in water as she worked.

"Shepard!" A tottering volley of fire emerged from the barrel of her pistol.

"You're safe Tali. Don't worry. "

"_Safe_? I'm arming a nuclear explosive in the middle of a battlefield!" The pistol fell back into her wet lap as she continued to work.

_Damned water…_

"Ironic, isn't it? The last thing the Geth are going to do, Tali, is shoot you. Trust me."

"Do you _truly_ believe that?" Her hands wire a pair of transistors using her Omni-tool.

"I'd like to entertain that idea…yes." He remarked wryly as his weapon nearly interrupted him. Beads of sweat line the Quarian's forehead, hands frantically checking the rest of the nuclear weapon's components.

"Shepard…Just…promise to keep an eye on me …I don't think I can stand being out here any longer."

"I promise. You're safe on my watch." Their channel terminated by the priority alert that Ash sent to Shepard.

"Shepard! I'm with Alenko and the remaining strike teams! The Geth are falling back over here! What's happening?!"

Suddenly the sharp staccatos of whizzing bullets stop.

The Geth, in a cohesive fashion, collectively ceased fire before dipping behind their wide array of cover.

The battle's violent ambience is substituted with the hushed purr of a small mass effect core. The Alliance weapons remain high and raised as they look up to see Saren Arterius high above the landscape, his hover board easily topping twenty five feet.

The sinister ex-Spectre observed his surroundings like a child would a squashed beetle.

"Very impressive Shepard; The Geth were _utterly_ convinced that the Salarian's were the real threat."

"Fascinating." Shepard's voice is vulgar. "I tire of your monologues, Saren." The human mused as he spoke, his head occasionally protruding from cover to see if the insidious Turian was still there.

At the far end of the dam, a young private hoisted a rocket propelled canister over his shoulder, the 140 millimeter howitzer loaded with a thermobaric warhead.

"This…This is for First Contact you _bastard_…" The aiming reticle is co-sighted with the soldier's eye, his finger dangling over the trigger.

Finding his available target, his reticle lined up with the large fuel tank that was embedded into the cement adjacent to Saren.

"_**Get the hell down**_!" The young man fired, the large projectile's fuel exhaust warping the air behind him, the rocket propelling at speeds faster than sound. The resulting explosion littered the atmosphere with blinding light, the insipid shades of yellow and red tinged with the plumes of blackened smoke.

The battlefield was suddenly silent, the smell of warped metal and ash molesting the air's heavy vapor.

The dense smoke eventually dissipated, leaving Saren no where to be seen.

Then the fighting began again; the noisy and nearly endless exchange of gunfire between Organic and Machine dulling auditory sensors of both factions.

"I need confirmation on Saren!" The Commander yelled out in a cry before he was suddenly pushed.

_Violently_.

Recovering from the staggered blow, the Commander saw Saren, his outline surrounded in an aura of biotic energy.

"You will not _undo_ everything I have worked for." His mandibles are gaped at a long angle, the contours of his naked flesh integrated intimately with invasive cybernetics.

Then a rather large red-armored Krogan smashed into Saren as they tumble into the shallow waters.

They exchange an awkward sequence of clumsy punches and kicks before Saren's manipulative energy flared and sent the dinosaur flying back into a silo.

The indentation _nearly_ _encased_ Wrex in the metal.

Shepard sauntered forward, his rifle firing in intervals of three, hoping that his shields would deter.

"Futile Shepard."

Garrus joined with his own rifle.

"Take him _**down**_!"

The ex-Spectre snarled, his plated face lowering on his eyes. Saren charged forward into a combative posture and thrust his hand out, a biotic field leaving his talons.

Shepard caught the blast in the chest, his Armor perverting under the force, his consciousness knocked freely from his head.

"Shepard!" Deprived of Thermal clips, Garrus charged Saren, his weapon striking the man across the face.

The stock made contact, blood ejecting from the blow.

He _stumbled_.

_Fell_ to his knees.

A recovered Krogan thrust himself toward the Turian, forcing them both to tumble to the ground.

Then Saren…_laughed_.

"No."

The pale Turian exploded into a colorful miasma of biotic lights, its ten meter circumference, turning armored bodies into flailing projectiles.

Wrex managed to hit the silo _again_, the new indentation neighboring the last.

The dainty Quarian was also within the radius of the biotic field.

She fell, her back bludgeoning the concrete below the white watered liquid, her scream following soon after from a dislocated shoulder.

Her good arm pried herself upwards through pained gritting of teeth before she keyed the detonator on her Omni-tool. She leveled herself against the warhead and unholstered her side-arm, in hopes she could prolong the inevitable.

Seizing the chance, Liara had bolted from her small curtain of cover, her own biotic energy set aflame.

The tussle of energy was massive enough to crush _plated_ steel.

It ended when Saren countered through energy massive enough to stagger his opponent before he sighted the iron sights of his pistol to fire.

He fired in succession, four rounds pervading the air to fracture Liara's kinetic shielding.

The last round that would have entered the Asari's chest never came.

The weapon was 'overheated'.

Saren's anger intensifies and he propelled the small weapon towards Liara, his guileful energy helping to accelerate the weapons trajectory.

A bland expression lined his face as he approached the staggering Asari.

His talons close around her chest and forced her down to the ground.

"_Die_."

A heavily booted foot rose into the air before it was thrust into Liara's abdomen

A second time.

A Third.

"Stop!" Tali's pistol fired twice; its bullets whiffed away by the ex-Spectre's powerful barrier.

She dropped the pistol in preparation for what was to come. She feigned the submission of defeat with an insincere snarl.

Saren's breathing, although heavily labored, bleeds monstrosity as he strode to the Quarian.

"_Suffer_."

He knelt down, his palm violently grabbing for her dislocated arm and hoisted into the air.

_**EXCRUCIATING**_ pain.

Her vision blurred.

She screamed, her remaining energy rapidly declining.

But she was ready.

Her knife held ready by her free arm.

She thrust.

_**Hard**_.

The angular blade comes into contact with his mid-section, the serrated edge disappearing under his abdomen with the handle left protruding.

"Bosh'tet…" She murmured through a gasping exhale of breath.

He dropped the Quarian and stumbled backward, his expression changed from anger to surprise.

Then his tactless expression is reinstated with rage when the nuclear detonator gawks its timed alarm.

"Well…well played, Quarian." Saren's exasperated sigh was grated when he removed the knife to drop next to Tali.

His gait is flaccid with injuries, his limp carefully guiding him to the hover board.

He flew away and he fell to his hands and knees, his stare never peeling from the woman that injured him.

She lay in the water, her quiescent outline swathed under the rushing rapids of shallow water as her eyes nearly wavered in pain.

"Sh…She…_Shepard_…" Her glossy gaze eyed the water's supple caressing; unmoving—docile.

"Normandy to ground team: respond over."

"Ground team here!" Stacker voice is rinsed with static. "We are getting overrun! We need immediate air-support! Advise that we have 60 plus foot-mobile hostiles converging on our immediate position!"

"This is Alenko! Approaching LZ! We are almo—re!" The transmission was intervened with an explosion in the short distance.

"LT? Respond, Lieutenant! …Hold on! Normandy's comin' to get you. Just a little longer!"

Large cargo bay doors that neighbored the dam opened to reveal an armored tank, its ordnance protracting to expel a heavy investment of ammunition.

"Oh…keeeeeeeelah…"

Faint screams howled in the distance, their voice originating from the quickly adapting Alliance marines.

Rifle fire tormented the Tank's armor as it ambled forward, its treads leaving muddy pricks of prominent bubbles to swathe the soil's granules.

An ear splitting fissure of howitzer fire erupted through the Tank's main gun, its successor supplemented with the lengthy release of coaxial gunfire.

Her hearing failed her, a dull ring of shell shock pervading her suit audio resistors to failure.

_Dammmmnit…_

Her arms extend outwards as she eyed the tank firing on the…

…_Geth_?

"Tali!"

The rest was a haze…

She was…hoisted…By Ash…

Then there was limping…

_Darkness…_

…and running…

_Darkness…_

Screaming drowning under the perpetual staccatos of gunfire.

"Tali!"

_Darkness…_

She was dropped, head resting on a silo's metal frame.

Pain…

_**Excruciating**_ pain…

"Tali! How long do we have?!"

"…eight minutes…nothinggg…moooree."

Her dislocated arm is handled by Ash's palm.

_Pain_. Painpainpainpainpain…

"What…whatt are you—"

"Fixing your arm."

A contorted bend and then…_SNAP_.

Tali muscles tighten against the hands that press her down, a peripatetic scream expelling from Tali's dry lips to solder the human's ear.

"Eight minutes?!"

Her answer is delayed from the staunched darkness that cornered her vision.

"Ye…yesss." She still couldn't move her arm.

_Torn muscles._

"Hold on, Tali! We're securing an LZ!"

"Kaiden!" William's eyes were attentive to her perimeter now; hand still on Tali's shoulder. "Get the tank and clear a path! We need to move!"

"Copy Ash."

The Quarian was huddled with several others, their broken bodies congregated together behind the battle worn silo.

Shepard was _among_ them.

"Sh—Shepard…" She pleaded through a murmur. They locked eyes, his knees bending for him to touch her reassuringly.

"We're getting out of here. Hold on." His hand reaches for his throat. "Normandy. We're clearing the chasm for stragglers. I want her on the far side. Copy? Move! We'll board there!"

"Copy Ground team. Moving now."

"Marines! Let's move! Help those who can't! We're getting out of here!" Shepard's cold commanding demeanor had returned.

"Commander! Left side! Geth are flanking!" Stacker's arm cradled his assault rifle as he pointed to the company of machines coursing through a door like blood would out of a ruptured vessel.

"We're out of time! Suppressive fire! Fall back!" The Spectre shouted, his hand waving in reiteration before facing Tali.

"Can you walk?"

"Yes…I can…" He offered his hand and she took it. Her eyes water when she felt the tear in her muscle.

"_**Run**_!"

The injured soldiers assembled before sauntering forward; their worn eyes watching their last residual unit form a unilateral firing line to suppress the flanking Geth.

"Faster!"

"Ditch the tank!"

Soldiers attempt to climb from the cockpit when they notice Geth troopers planting their feet on the tank's armored surface with seamless precision.

"Get out, Get out, _Get out_!" The retreating outlines of flailing bodies are obscured, the atmosphere's ambiguous smoke making details abstruse to the organic eye.

The Salarians and humans clamber from the tank desperately, eyes gaping, mouth wide before piercing rounds push through their chest.

They fall into the water, their blood mixed into a soluble color of pale brown.

The frigate's doors open to admit the retreating soldiers, a support squad barreling forward for suppression relief.

Alenko's firing line disengaged, their feet rearing to climb aboard the Normandy.

Glancing behind his shoulder Kaiden sees Geth soldiers disarming the Nuke.

No.

He wasn't going to let them do that.

_Not after all that's been lost. _

The sacrifice he was about to pursue only solidified as he heard the familiar sound of a closing projectile.

_Zzzzzzzzzpfth!_

He looks down to see the impact of a high powered rifle shot embedded in his chest.

His armor clamped down around the wound before medical stasis introduced his terminal injury with a dosage of medi-gel.

"No…no."

He crossed over to the Mako before Ashley grabbed for his shoulder.

"Where the hell are you doing?!" Her face is caked and singed from battle.

_Still_ beautiful.

"I'm sorry, hun." Alenko's eyes are soft and glossy, his face growing pale from blood loss.

"Joker. Fire forward batteries. I'm taking the Mako."

There was no response; only the lowering of two Guardian cannons.

"It's too late for me anyway, Ash…I'm sorry."

Repulsive decibels embrace the perturbed air.

"No! Don't…_don't leave me_…" She tried to stop him, but the biotic harness she was encased in made it impossible.

Kaiden clambered inside after a long tactful stare of his friends.

…his _Family_.

The Mako's wheels grind against the deck metal until they finally catch ground.

"Proud to Serve." He announced proudly through a streamlined connection.

The Normandy's doors close and they leave the atmosphere, watching and waiting for the inevitable to pass.

30 seconds crawl by.

_Eternity_.

Nearly one thousand miles away, an explosion erupts off of the surface of the planet, its cloud of smoke embracing the sky in a sea of destruction.

_Kaiden succeeded. _


	12. Thanksgiving

**A/N: I scrapped a segment from the sequel and put it in here because it would make more sense. I changed it around and made it more believable to my readers. :) **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**|Chapter 11|**

**|12/9/2183|**

**|Location: Planet Ulipses|**

* * *

The fever was due.

Not _nearly_ as bad as she thought it would be.

But the pressure that lined her sinuses was beginning to test her patience.

Add a cough and she was having a bacteria cultured party.

But it was _certainly_ worth it.

…Even if all they did was fall asleep _cuddling_…

Ooo…

…_cuddling_…

It was shame really…despite the badgered feeling of pressing her lips against his…

It _didn't_ happen…

Part of her was concerned about why she didn't worry about attempting to do something as audacious as that.

Despite the concern…it was dwarfed with overwhelming infatuation…

Not infatuation…

No.

It was love.

She was _in love_ with him.

Of John…

An inattentive hand grasped the dirt that lay beneath her, fingers gliding along the pebbles' contours.

A sound snore is suffused through the air, the unconscious snarl deriving from Garrus that slept next to her.

His legs are sprawled across the ground, hands crossed, head lowered from dead weight.

The awkward position left him sauntering at angle that would ultimately leave him smearing his face in dirt.

A disconsolate sigh is muttered through the Quarian's lips before she grabs the armored crest that surrounds his neck to readjust his balance.

His tongue clicks, mandibles twitching before his steady breathing continues its endless cycle of rotations.

The sand falls from her hand, another already reaching for the Turian's rifle.

The scope fell into view, and through it reveals nothing but the bland euphoria of features that litter the tasteless landscape.

It was the umpteenth time she stared through the sight…the ulterior motive behind the recent collector attack left her uncompromisingly paranoid.

_The trauma was still fresh. _

Then the thought of the collector's invade her mind, her mind crying out with disgust and fear.

Why didn't the Collector's just kill them with an aerial strike?

Or with full force?

Why even _risk_ casualties?

Several conclusions were drawn and she sifted through the logical ones.

Maybe…they were testing them…?

Like animals would with their prey…

Or…

Psychological warfare?

Seemed rational.

Wait until the enemy is nothing more than jittering mess of insanity before they swoop in to deal the final blow.

The latter integrated itself nicely with her last conclusion:

They _wanted_ something.

It made her shudder…_almost_ violently.

Still…nothing added up when she tried to factor the mind boggling sight of meteors that liquidated through the ground.

Too many unknowns…

Too many variables and approaches…

Were the Collector's even involved?

Knowing the anxiety wouldn't help her state of mind, she filed the thoughts away for future consideration.

Her mind wanders to the previous night like wood drifting out onto the open sea.

A smile swelled across her lips, eyes crinkling to give leeway to the blissful memory.

Ooooo…

_Cuddling with John… _

She _couldn't_ get over it.

"Tali…" the Turian muttered, eyes still closed from sleep. "…could you hand me my canteen?"

She reached for the cup neighboring her, arm perched for support. "Here."

His empty palm accepted the large cylinder before he tipped the bottle down his throat.

"How long was I sleeping?"

"Maybe an hour or two." She replied, eyes never wandering to meet his exhausted gaze.

"Anything I miss?"

"Shepard was here earlier; Left about a half-hour ago to run a patrol. I convinced him not to write on your face with a permanent marker."

He's silent for a moment, his eyes widening a bit. "What?"

"I told him not—"

"No. I heard you…what made you not let him write on my face?" His thick talons feel for his chin before they glide along his mandibles.

"You're ugly enough as it is. Shepard was inclined to agree with me."

His plates shift into a grating frown of displeasure, eyes betraying the laughter that he was about to expel from his lungs.

"Ha! It's about time Shepard got a chance with the ladies. –always hitting on me and never him."

She laughed, albeit nervously at his remark. The laugh had revealed the deep congestion in her lungs and throat.

"You…you don't sound too good Tali…" his voice lowered, his mandibles flickering in concern.

"I'm…I'm sick."

"You only get sick when you've been exposed to the air…if I remember correctly."

_Oh Keelah…He's going to find out! _

"…suit breach. From our last encounter."

…_my encounter with John. She snickered inwardly._

"From the collectors?" His expression becomes jaded, the lines of worry fading away once more.

"Yes. It's just a minor reaction. It'll pass."

"Good."

A chastised grunt gurgled from the Turian who shifts uncomfortably in his gear.

"Tali…I don't think we have much time left." His vocal chords are plucked strands at a time. "I know it's been on your mind. It's been on everyone's."

The silence overwhelmed the two, her hands awkwardly jostling the rifle's external components.

"What's on your mind, Garrus?"

"Two things." He murmured through a pensive sigh. "Our provisions are low. Dextro no less."

His eyes peered through the monocle that hovered over his eye. "—and the Collectors…how long until they kill us? Look at us…we're sitting _fucks_…"

"Garrus. It's sitting ducks…" Her oratory expression is mild "…mind you…I have no idea what a duck is."

His head bobbed before a smirk had creased his mouth. He sighed; hands clenched in a fashion that made his gloves groan in protest.

"I've got the rest of the shift covered Tali. You can sleep now."

"Maybe I'll sleep off these damned allergies. Wake me if _anything_ comes up." Her body gravitates towards the sleeping mat sprawled on the ground, a small plastic box serving as a pillow.

Easing her mind off the current troubles…she began to reminisce.

* * *

**-Approximately two weeks ago-**

**|Chapter 12|**

**|11/24/2183|**

**|Location: Citadel|**

* * *

An audible and nearly deafening crackle of escaping air silenced the congregation.

Then bouts of hardened laughter filled the dimly lit room, with many left to support their asphyxiation with arms tied around their thighs.

"Best one yet, Wrex. Anymore and you'll be beating my score." A bottle of ale in hand, the Turian pointed at the belching Krogan.

"Ha! Keep dreaming your bland dreams, Turian. I've got a title to uphold."

The 'pilgrim's hat' that occupied the Turian's head ambled forward until it nearly covered his eyes. To compensate for the head fringe, a loose band of string was tied across his chin. He grumbled, the intoxication that filtered through his blood-stream taxing his coordination to capacity.

Tali nearly had to lunge for Garrus as he fell forward from his chair.

Was the spectacle amusing?

Oh yes. Very much so.

Would it later?

No. Not when she would have to watch over the Turian vomit over every object in the bathroom.

Today was Thanksgiving. A day celebrated by the humans with large feasts of food.

A week prior to the celebration, the holiday became common knowledge amongst the non-human crew before they docked with the Citadel.

It _irritated_ her.

How could she partake in a holiday where the main occasion of celebration was eating f_ood_?

Despite the obvious obstruction of Quarian immunity, Shepard promised that he would find a way for her to integrate with the gathering.

Shepard was, for all intents and purposes, well aware of the fragile constraints the Quarians were equipped with…and because of that, she didn't worry.

The celebration date was also a seamless coincidence.

The Normandy needed to be restocked from their most recent success of eliminating a pocket of Geth resistance, and the Council wished to debrief in the company of Shepard's presence.

The Commander extended their leave to three whole days.

_Why not?_

Saren was _dead_ and the Reapers were abstained from bleeding through the Citadel's hidden Mass Relay.

Wrex belched once more; the loudest and longest of them all. The end of his large escape of gas was preceded afterward with a small applause and howls of laughter.

"Tali…it seems that our friendly Turian has one too many drinks…" Liara nibbled on a cookie as she thumbed Garrus. "I can tell he can't handle his alcohol."

"I was just thinking the same thing, Liara." She motioned through a mirthful mumble.

The Asari chuckled before she took another bite of the pastry. "I hope you aren't easily repulsed by Turian vomit."

"The smell would get me every time if I did." She remarked through a smile, her thick finger pointing to her olfactory sensor. "I don't take this for granted you know."

She nudged the Quarian with a shoulder before indulging herself with another satisfying bite of desert.

The entire crew gathered around the conference table, its surface repurposed into a 'buffet' of sorts.

Many stood with drinks in hand, conversing about experiences long forgotten, embracing the knitted friendships that came to fruition.

Amongst them was Shepard.

She was entranced by his clean and chiseled jaw, his toned arms and chest complimenting the idyllic aura that saturated the atmosphere.

Her eyes are glossy from the long and steady stare of Shepard as she sucked on the induction straw that filtered through the can of dextrose converted ginger ale she held.

_A swoon…as always_. Adding the countless months they spent searching for Saren, their cradled relationship blossomed into something truly purposeful. She knew it. It was impossible not to feel it. But she was pushed from the meandering line of thought when she finished the last piece of her purified nourishment.

The meal Shepard had promised was a colorful array of flavored paste.

After tasteful consumption, she was, undoubtedly, left with a grumbling stomach after eating the purified buffet.

**…**

The festivities continued for another hour before Garrus was hauled off in a stretcher to the Medical Bay to be watched over the team of nurses that had prepped for the drunkards.

The remaining crew parted by either ending their celebration with sleep or finding a club at the Citadel to party the night away.

Tali returned to her room before realizing that she left her computer on the counter of the CIC monitoring station.

Scoffing for even having the forgetful audacity of leaving the personal electronic on the monitoring suites _again_ aggravated her.

Before she left the deck to fetch her laptop, she found a small sticky note that was adhered at the panel of her door.

It was written in…

…Khelish?

The handwriting was rather neat…but she could tell it wasn't from a Quarian hand.

She was, after all, the only Quarian aboard.

She let the note's adhesive stick to her finger as she read it.

_Hi Tali…_

_I decided to take a chance in writing in your native tongue. It's…not too difficult. Just time consuming really (and with the help of an auto lingual app). I didn't think the paste I gave you during the main course was satisfying to eat…so I kept your real meal a surprise…although I regret you not being able to share this in the company of your fellow crew mates. _

_And me of course._

_Enjoy. _

_P.S._

_There was a fellow Quarian on the Citadel when I was looking for something to get you.  
Asked him what you guys like to eat and said that Phakah, Lisep s'hjot, and Seklai were really good choices…So I got them. Ready, hot and fresh. He told me to say hi to you. Don't know if you actually know the guy…but you're all family. His name is Giseck'Keeysu. On pilgrimage I think. He told me to tell you to wish him luck. _

_Yours truly,_

_John._

An audible sigh escaped from the Quarian's lips, her heart touched by the sincerity.

Carefully folding the note on its horizontal and vertical planes, she placed it into her pocket and decided the computer could wait.

Opening the door revealed a small push table, its top enshrined with contents that made her mouth salivate.

A light hovered over the table to keep the supply of food warm and toasty, which only further intensified the urge to devour the food.

The decontamination protocol begins as she waits for the monotonous procedure to complete.

_-Hours later-_

"How's Garrus?" Shepard asked quietly, his frown placated by the fist that hovered over his mouth.

"He'll…he won't remember anything." Tali managed to sigh, her head turning to face the Turian. "A lot of dry heaving though…"

As if on cue, The Turian's stomach tugged at his throat, the wet gurgles only tightening the nauseating knot in John's gut.

"I think…We'll let him stay here with Chakwas and her nurses…Garrus never seems to know his limit."

"No…but he'll learn eventually." She chastised through a disdainful groan of sarcasm.

"That couldn't be _any_ farther from the truth." Shepard countered through an alleviating smirk.

They both erupt into a fit of laughter before Garrus yelled over them both.

"Get the _hell_ ooooouuut…You're…going to make my head explode…"

Their giggles continue, their feet carrying them forward until they find themselves in the welcoming silence of the Normandy's darkened cabin.

"How was the food?" The Commander asked, his whisper amplified by the Normandy's protracting walls.

"Absolutely _delicious_." Her hands find their way at the small of her back as she leaned against a support stilt. "You're really starting to spoil me."

He chortled tastefully before creasing his arms over his chest to get a better look out of her. "I tend to make a habit of that." He shrugged emphatically before a smile crested along his lips. "You tired?"

"Nope." Her mirth only prompted Shepard to continue.

"Good. Cause you and I are _going_ out."

She stuttered, her heart frantically trying to play out what Shepard just said.

"Wh…what?" John _certainly _knew how to play with Tali's heart.

"Go out, Tali. You and I are celebrating. _Hanging out._ Remember?" His smile intensified before extending an arm to hook around her shoulder.

She laughed rather nervously, hands writhing gracelessly amongst each-other.

"Come on."

Shepard announced publicly, his legs carrying him and his partner forward.

"Should I bring anything?" She asked between their hobbled strides.

"Other than your thirst for drinks? No. I'm buying."

"You always buy, Shepard."

"…and you know I wouldn't have it any other way." His supple complexion nearly melted her heart as they walk up the flight of stairs together.

"I know…but someday, that'll change." She teased through a slight touch of his shoulder.

"Is that a proposition?" Her receptive contact gave a reason for Shepard to look at her.

"Mmm…you could think of it like that."

They continue across the bridge silently, their scuffling footsteps breaking across the calming ambience.

"Commander! Why, hey there!" Dutifully, the helmsman's chair oscillated to face the pair before they leave the Normandy.

Between a sip of coffee, he spoke. "I see you two haven't had enough for tonight. Don't get riled up. I don't do priority pick-ups."

"Don't worry Joker. Any sign of this Quarian going tipsy and she'll get a ride home over my shoulder."

"Ha! That'll be something to see. Have fun, you two love birds."

Tali's cheeks flush into a hazy shade of cerise while visibly reeling at the humans idiom."L—love birds?"

John's hand, placed lovingly over her shoulder, guided her toward the exit before glaring at the pilot.

"Go on Tali. I'll meet you in the airlock."

"O—okay." The receptive silence permeated when the Quarian's footsteps were silenced by the Normandy's closing doors.

The Commander approached the Lieutenant with an acidic smile before leveling his eyes near the cripple's.

"You do that again Joker, and I display your extranet browser history through the intercom. Audio only."

"Duly noted, Commander." The pilot gulped audibly while hiding his auspicious smile.

"…and I know you're not drinking coffee. I'll find you a flask while I'm out."

"Th-thank you, Commander…"

John purposefully ended the one-sided exchange with a rough pat on the shoulder, the gesture strong enough to spill some of the drink's contents on Jeff's lap.

"Aw, Damnit."

"See you later Joker."

"Heh…Yeah. See you around, Commander."

Shepard, with an ambiguous laugh, proceeded to leave the Normandy's bay, his unperturbed stride complimented by the man's halfhearted demeanor.

He had every reason to not give a care in the world.

_Saren was dead._

_They Killed Sovereign._

_The Geth were pushed back._

Life was…ironically enough…_good_.

He entered the decontamination unit, its sweaty walls covered in misty distilment fluid.

"You ready?" The VI's casual proclamation of atmosphere distribution goes unnoticed.

"What did you talk to Joker about?"

The Quarian's feet shuffle closer to him as his arms cross his chest.

"The clear distinction of where the command structure lies."

"I see." A mirthful response dripped from Tali's tongue as he smiled at her. "So, where are we going?"

"To Flux."

"Flux?"

"They managed to do some expanding."

"Really now? Considering that Sovereign only attacked three weeks ago?" Her prosaic stare is captivated by the Human's complexion.

"We'll find out soon enough." They're impetuous stride guided them into the depths of a large lift before lowering down into the wards.

Languid music filtered through the elevator's cheap speakers before Shepard spoke, his lively eyes watching the passing floors with detached interest.

"We finally did it, Tali." His supple sigh muttered dryly, lips creased with nostalgia.

She looked to him, hands carefully massaging her joints.

"In saving the Galaxy?"

"Yes…it's been quite the adventure, hasn't it?" He faced her, eyes crinkling from his ascetic smile.

"More than just an adventure." She managed to add, voice hushed by the proliferating ambience.

"More than an adventure." He agreed, nodding absent-mindedly, hands wrapping around his chest.

"I'm glad we're doing this."

"And I'm glad to be sharing it with my favorite Quarian."

A short-lived scoff slipped from her mouth, her elated smile perking gracefully across her expression.

"Oh…Shepard."

The elevator doors separate and they head off to their destination, their shoulders occasionally brushing amongst the crowds in the commonplace.

"Stick with me." He feigned Joker's impudence, his gruff laugh stopped from a teasing slap across the arm.

"Please. It's like home."

"Is it now?"

Her perplexed stare turned to face him. "Of Course. Just no aliens."

"I can imagine that." They continue, their arms interlocking to insure they wouldn't get separated.

The subtle beats of the club become louder and more jarring. Eventually, their proximity closes until their bones rattle from the invective notes.

"Huh…They always seem to keep the most interesting beats here." The Quarian mumbled happily, her arm still interlocked with Shepard's.

"Look! It's the heroes of the Citadel!" A Salarian exclaimed publicly, his arm extending outward to point to them.

The hundreds of gatherers begin clapping, their cheers dwarfing the music that inundated the atmosphere.

"Come on Tali, let's bow for 'em. They'll love that." He murmured to the woman, lips curling into a congested smile.

She giggled; their torso's lowering until they meet at waist length.

"See? They're cheering even harder now."

"That they are, Shepard."

Their bow comes to an end; the two waving to the large congregation of drinkers before approaching the bar.

"What'll be your poison, mate?" The bartender spoke, hands straddling the counter's metal finish with relaxed knuckles.

"Slim Tire. Tali? What about you?"

"I've…never taken the liberty to drink…choose for me." She thumbed the counter, her delectable eyes turning to stare at her captain.

The Spectre's fist hovers neatly over his cleanly shaven chin, eyes searching over the dynamic light that served as a menu.

"We'll start you off with something light. How about a good ol' fashioned dextro cooler?"

"This…is going to get interesting." She mumbled before nodding her approval.

"Dextro cooler it is." The Bartender's robust glance nodded, their order already underway.

They turn to face the large assembly of dancers and drinkers, their added mass giving Tali a reason to smile brightly.

She _fought_ for them.

She _saved_ these people.

Her eyes, mesmerized by the community's thick presence, turned to eye her commander.

But in the end…

_She fought for him._

_For Shepard._

"From what I remember, you're still an alcoholic virgin." He snickered belligerently, a lop-sided grin splicing his lips to show his well-manicured teeth.

"Y-yup..."

"I think this night will turn out to be a little more interesting." His palms rub amongst themselves questioningly, brows furrowing expectantly for what was to come.

"_Order's ready mate. Drink up" _The human bartender announced.

"Thanks." Shepard grasped the cool surface of aluminum before raising it into the air in regards to Tali.

Finishing the gesture, he took a swig of his icy beer.

"Damn good beer…" He frowned, his cheeks stretching to overstate his insincere appraisal.

"I thought you hated alcohol…" She leaned back, her easeful manner inviting him to continue.

"I do. _Beer_ tastes like shit."

The Quarian eyed the Spectre with infallible hast, the spectacle heaving an exasperated laugh, chest trembling from potent amusement.

"Oh Shepard. You _never_ change."

"You and I have killed enough Reapers in our lifetime for it not to be a life-changing thing." The bottle's lip hovered over his mouth. "I'm sure you know how that goes." He kissed the nozzle before taking another long swig.

"Absolutely." She murmured happily as she severed her fluid-aid packet to remove the induction port. Inserting the tube into the filtered pouch, she began to sip at its contents.

"It's…not that bad."

"See? We'll start you off slow. Then we'll get you working on the hard stuff."

He watched reverently as Tali's translucent straw fractured under the passing light of rising liquid.

"I don't know Shepard…I actually wanted to do more than just drink." She teased before eyeing the dance floor. "I heard dancing drunk is awful."

He, in turn, fixated on the large group of dancers. "Yeah…no kidding…"

Shepard is silent for moment before it finally clicked.

_Tali wanted to dance._

"…Oh—you want…" The grip he held around his beverage wanes as he faced the soft-spoken Quarian. "—to dance."

She nodded eagerly, her iridescent eyes glistening with excitement.

"…I've been branded as a terrible dancer. I'll just watch." He turned back around to face the corner.

Her stare was beginning to bore a hole on the side of his head.

"Come on, Shepard! It'll be fun."

"I don't know..." His shoulders rise to his jaw line, teeth clenched in worry.

"It isn't a request." A hand met her hip as her brows furrowed teasingly. "You're dancing with me. Come on." She grabbed for his palm and yanked, his hand leaving his beer on the counter.

"my beer…"

"—can wait."

They cross the dance floor with her hand tightly around his arm, her pace determined and purposeful.

They vanish under the crowd of dancers until they meet the floor's center.

The pulsating lights hypnotize Tali's silhouette, her supple curves nearly giving Shepard a heart attack.

_Jesus_...

"Just follow my lead, you Bosh'tet."

Like a graceful angel, her lithe body fell in line with the synthetic beat, her hands oscillating to give purpose to the air around her, legs set into a shameless promenade to highlight her rather…

…_lustful_ features.

Shepard gulped perceptibly before clumsily trying to get in quo with her angelic rhythm.

She laughed audibly as she continued dancing, stepping closer to her partner as she did so.

"How am I doing?" The Quarian asked, lowering slowly as the beat was whiffed away into a low compress.

"_You're a prodigy.._." He tried to compensate with his own inert dance moves. "Tali, I am a t_errible_ dancer!" He grumbled, fists kept close to his chest as he struts back and forth.

"Just do what feels right!"

"I _am_!"

She watched the human with a careful and inwardly pleading eye before speaking sarcastically.

"You aren't kidding, Shepard. You've really got to work on the flexibility."

"Ha…and you're rusty on reach." He added with flavor.

She laughed roughly as she continued, arms twirling, glowing orbs nostalgic with Garrus' comedic innuendo.

Her heart, painted with desire, beats in observation to the awkward dancing Spectre, his brows arched archaically as if he were to fashion his self-conscious moves with a broken needle.

"I'm going to call your moves the Shepard Shuffle." She announced to him between her illustrious stride.

His arms flail in an attempt to flavor his bland dance.

"Why not? I've got a dozen titles branded to me. Why not add another one?"

"Good. And When I release my suit cam vid of you dancing…it'll go viral on the vid-tube." She stopped dancing in the midst of the music, her arms rising above her head to accentuate her brash amusement. "Hero of the Citadel: Dances! Shepard Shuffle!"

His eyes roll emphatically, his scoff throaty and unyielding to her humor.

"You wouldn't." He mumbled dispassionately.

"Mmm…I don't know...viral videos get paid good money."

"And since when were you ever interested in credits?" He asked, an acidic smile prickling across his lips.

"To know that I could make a career out of recording you do _stupid_ things." Her laugh was joined shortly with Shepard's, their bodies both slipping from the sweaty trance of dancers that littered the floor.

They return to the bar, his beer left untouched.

"Do you guys have a private booth?" Shepard faced the bartender who leaned back on the back wall to view his congregators.

"Absolutely. Down the hall to me' left and at the back. Vid-screen an' all."

"Thank you." Shepard idly pried a credit chit from his pocket to throw at the man.

"Hundred credits, my friend. Spend that money well."

"Oigh…thank ye mate." The man's thick accent gave a well deserved nod to the Spectre.

"A private booth?"

"Don't worry Tali. All part of the plan." His head turned to face the Quarian who followed him closely.

"You never have plans for anything."

"I have a knack for winging it, I suppose." He shrugged, his incisors splcing into a wholehearted grin.

He pulled the curtain to the side of the booth, his other extending forward for her to step inside.

"After you, Tali."

"Why thank you." Eagerly, she stepped inside to view the luxurious furniture inside the room. At its center held a small table, its flanks covered by a vid-screen and vending machine.

"Wow…" She murmured, eyes caressing the exciting walls.

"Mmm…This is better than I expected." His voice was accompanied by the soft flow of music.

"What did you have planned, Shepard?" She asked before eyeing the brilliant display of snacks that spread across the glass.

"Ha…like I said. Kick back. Relax. We're the Citadel's heroes. I thought we could just…talk…like we usually do." His hands wander around the room, a smile centered at the front of his face.

"I'd like that." She whispered as took a seat across the man, hands packed tightly against her thighs.

"I knew you would." He leaned back in the booth, hand arched over the end, beer in the other.

"I'm that predictable, huh?" His eyes glance over the vid before looking back to her.

"Oh yeah." She answered.

His beer slipped from his grasp, as he idly approached the vending machine.

"You know what a cup cake is?"

"It's cake that's shaped like a cup." She retorted. "Come on, Shepard."

"Good. I'm getting one." His credit chit was inserted into the machine before his pastry fell out of the dispenser for consumption.

The package held two distinct cups, their tops frosted brown with sprinkles.

"Mmm…" His fingers split the package, eyes narrowing at the dessert's concoction.

"Here. Smell it."

The cupcake, held carefully in his hands, is pushed toward her for olfactory examination.

"Smell good?" His sly smile grew.

"Er…" A small evasive sniff managed to bubble from her auditory emulator. "…yes..I—_**SHEPARD**_."

Centered at the Quarian's visor was a cupcake, its creamy frosting adhering to its glossy surface.

Unceremoniously, her hands fell to her sides as she watched the cake fall from her visor back onto the table.

"What in…Keelah, Shepard!" Her leg brushed along the human's calf. "—you find this funny?"

Between the fitful of laughter that spewed from the Spectre's mouth, he nodded, a tear threatening to fall from his eye.

"Absolutely!"

"Clean me. _Now_." She chastised, a finger pointing to her head.

"Fair enough." The laughter died down and he snatched a napkin at the side of the table to wipe up the sloppy mess he'd created.

Between the tugging smears that ensued across her mask, she prepared, hands interlocked around the last fluffy pastry.

As he drew in closer to wipe up the last remaining crumbs, she thrust forward until her palm made contact with the human's face, his nose submerged in the cake, its fragile frame warping until it creased along his nose and lip.

He stumbled backwards, mouth swathed in icing, eyelids jailed shut from the sticky sugar that smothered him.

"Ha ha, you Bosh'tet!" She stood triumphantly, remnants of cake flying off her attacking hand.

Seemingly unaware of the chastising remark, he wiped away the filth around his eyes before rolling his eyes.

"See what you did? You made me waste a credit." His arm slivered across his cheek to remove the frosting that caked his face.

He looked at his palm, its surface layered with the remnants of the pastry that coated his complexion.

"Oh…you got me good." He chortled before finally setting himself back against the seat's recline.

"Oh yes. I did. Very much so."

Shepard eyed his can of beer, fingers dancing across the lid, before taking another swig of the foul liquid.

"Damn…cupcake isn't mixing in well with the beer." His lips smack, his frown placated by the laughing Quarian.

"Then why do you insist on drinking it then?" She picked at the loose fabric of the chair, eyes crinkling in amusement.

"Because…we're celebrating." He managed to murmur, hands picking at the last pieces of cake from his face.

"…you're just incredible."

"I know."

"No Shepard…you truly are incredible." Her voice, saturated with nostalgic notes, ponder pensively across her teeth.

"Look at how far we've gotten. Because of you." She added finally, her glowing eyes washed away by the swoon of his handsome character.

"No. Because of _us_." He corrected casually.

"Well…It wouldn't have been a reality if it weren't for you." She countered quietly.

"Dead wrong. You brought Saren to justice…that is what made all this possible." His beer points to her. "Without you, our thumbs would be up our asses."

"There you go with Joker's innuendos." The Quarian sighed before laughing.

"It rubs off the man. I've seen you throw some around."

"Like what?" Her elbows glide along the table for her palms to rest along her jaw line.

He took another swig of his beer, a grin tugging at the corners of his lips.

"You've made some prude comments to Garrus, if I remember correctly."

She stammered, hands seizing her knee caps in embarrassment. "W—what did you hear?"

"Something about Hanar porn and their tentacles?"

She sunk lower, head reclining against the seat.

"Oh Keelah…you heard that?"

"Yes." He answered stoically.

"You know it was just a joke…right?"

"Of course." His smile grew. "Displacing your anger on a rumpus Turian is a great way to relieve stress."

A nervous chuckle slipped from Tali's lips, hands searching eagerly for a way to change the topic.

"Well…he deserved it."

"Swell times those were." His gruff chuckle was silenced as the Quarian came over to hug him.

She _needed_ that _warming_ embrace.

"Swell times indeed, Shepard. Thank you for this."

His perplexed stare softened as his arms wrap around her dainty shoulders.

"You smell like cupcakes." He muttered, eyes closed, nose wistfully sniffing against her hood.

"Huh…I wonder why." She mumbled before stepping away. "I think we should go back to the Normandy."

"But we just got here…" He said rather disappointingly.

"Don't worry, Shepard…I have something to show you…if you're interested…" She garbled nervously, free hand absent-mindedly clutching to the other.

"Oh? A surprise?" He leaned forward, eyes widening in delight. "I'm surprised I'm getting something without a favor..."

"Ha…but people like pushing credits your way when you solve their problems."

"That's an understatement of the century." He quirked loudly, head bouncing as his eyes roll.

They removed themselves from the booth before walking down the long corridor.

"It's true…" She motioned toward him as they exit the club, their hands pressed to their sides by the invasive crowd of the commonplace.

"Can't say I mind it." He shrugged indifferently, his smile never wavering.

"I wouldn't either." She concluded as a smile perked across her skinny lips.

"Speaking of which…I have a surprise for you too when we get back to the Normandy."

"Y…you do?"

"Oh yeah. I think it's something you'll love."

"I always love the things you get me." She added before exiting the street into an elevator.

"Well…usually it takes a lot of encouraging for you to accept anything."

Nervously, her eyes fixate to a bland detail of flooring, her arm crossing her chest to squeeze her elbow.

"Sorry…habit."

"One that should break, Tali." He nudged her shoulder playfully.

"I'm working on it…"

"I wouldn't expect anything less, you Quarian _Bosh'tet_." His free arm wrapped around her shoulder and squeezed tightly.

Tali stammered, brows furrowing as she eyed him. "You…called me a Bosh'tet."

"Yup…and I have no idea what it means." He replied, lips creasing in curiosity.

Her gruff laugh was silenced when the elevator doors parted to let them through.

"Well…you won't be hearing anything from me." She guarded the insular remark, hand wistfully floating in the air to accentuate her point.

"Oh…come on Tali."

"Nope." The both enter the Normandy's port and wait patiently for their vertical planes to be swathed in a pathogen field.

"Mmm…I forgot to get Joker a flask." Shepard murmured quietly, hands creasing across his chest. "Oh well. He doesn't need to be drinking at the helm anyways."

"Well…it isn't going to stop him." Tali retorted.

"I suppose it wouldn't." His sighed, head shaking in feigned defeat.

The partitions separate and they enter the Normandy's CIC bay.

"Tali! Shepard!" Joker had remained peeled in his seat for the duration of their celebration. "Back so soon?"

"She didn't want me to drink too much." Shepard shrugged, shoulder rising to meet his jaw line.

Joker nodded silently, his hand gruffly rubbing against his beard.

"And for good reason too. You wanna end up like Garrus? All shitfaced…and…shit?"

Shepard, with a dismal hand, waved him off before walking down the long corridor with Tali close behind.

"So…about that surprise, Tali?" He spoke in hopes to start another conversation.

Fingers twirl around the Quarian's palms witlessly. "Well…It's not really a surprise…I mean it is…its more—"

"We'll see when we get there then?" He said with a nod of appraisal, his etched smirk spreading across his cheeks.

"Yes."

The intercom's audio speaker's split with static before a steady beat of music filled the atmosphere with lovely notes.

"Give it up for John Shepard and Tali'Zorah's popular musical pick! Give 'em a berth ladies and gentlemen!" Joker's voice pushed through the intercom speakers. "Oh…and Shepard. It's either this lovely music…" The impudent man paused to for an accentuation. "…or my extranet browser history. Audio only. Take your pick."

The Spectre frowned, his lines of worry placated by the slight touch of the Quarian's hand on his forearm.

"Just leave it be, Shepard. The music's nice, anyways."

"Only because you said so."

They entered the elevator.

"The surprise is in my room." Tali spoke tenderly, voice etched with nervousness.

"Sounds good. You want me to wait while you get it?"

"No." She voiced herself hastily. "Just…come with me."

Shepard stared idly at the floor counter. "Okay."

The ride, for the rest of the duration, is peacefully silent, save for the milky tunes that play through the lift's single speaker.

The door's separate as they reached Tali's deck, and the two walk down the short hallway into her personalized clean room.

"Come on." She whispered silently before the pair quietly stepped into the distilment proprietor.

"Do you want me to wait in here why you get the surprise?" Shepard asked, his well-mannered smile almost making Tali's knees buckle in excitement.

Or _nervousness_.

His question remained unanswered.

"Tali?"

The sanitation protocol completed and the door's open to reveal her small room.

"Actually…I…" She cleared her throat of unwanted obstruction before her hands wring hard enough to chaff the rubber fabric. "…just wanted to show you my room."

His brows rose surprisingly. "You sure? I don't want to intrud—"

"No. No. I insist, Shepard."

"So this is the surprise then?" He murmured with impressionable haste, his eyes swallowing the colors of the room.

"Yes…" A timid answer came from the Quarian. "Come on…" Her dainty digits motion for him to step inside.

"Shouldn't I cover my mouth or something?"

"Don't sneeze." She teased playfully. "Come on Shepard..."

"Okay…" He stepped inside and saw the several liberties she took in changing the cabin.

"I bet what I've done is totally against your Human Alliance regulations…" She retorted embarrassingly.

"No…I…it's beautiful." Shepard's breath was taken away as he continued to eye the brilliant swirls of an amethyst quilt that was folded across her bed.

"Is it?" She asked with a low mumble as she sat down on the bed's tough frame.

"I do like what you've done with the place." His hands find his hips as he stared proudly at the décor.

"Well…I didn't really get actual furniture…but...you know…a few holos here and there for some memories…here let me show you some." She managed to linger over a set of digital picture frames.

"This is my mother." Her single digit pointed to one of the individuals in the image. "You remember when I told you that she never wore the suit? Well…I never got any pictures of her with it on either."

Cautiously, Shepard stepped forward to get a better look out of the woman.

"She's beautiful, Tali…" He murmured as he saw the naked face of a Quarian.

"Yes…yes she was, Shepard." Her eyes flicked to the individuals that neighbored Tali's mother. "That's me and father."

He sighed inwardly, seeing that she and her father's faces were still covered in thick tinted glass.

"Here…there's more." Her hands awkwardly fiddle with more picture frames. "This…this is the Rayya. My birth ship."

"It's a giant…circle." He remarked. "That thing is…huge."

"Right…it's a live-ship. It's where we produce our food. It's one of three."

"Wow…that's really impressive."

"I'm not going to give you a lesson, Shepard. Not this time."

"Why not?" He asked through an astonished yelp. "You always tell me about your people."

"I don't want to bore you to death."

"You never bore me to death." The bed's frame took on Shepard's extra weight.

She scoffed, albeit slightly when she saw his reassuring smile.

"You still smell like cupcakes." His shoulder pushed against hers.

"So do you…chocolate cream." She returned the friendly gesture.

"Now it's my turn to show you my surprise." He leaned forward before tapping at his electronic bracelet to turn on his Omni-tool.

"This…is a small fortune." He mumbled incoherently. "And it's for you."

Before she could even voice her objections, he held a finger close to her mouthpiece.

"Not a peep from you, Tali. This is my decision. You've got to respect that, okay?"

She nodded vigilantly, her eyes moistening a bit at the human's brutal kindness.

"I…don't know what to say..."

"You don't need to say anything. It's done. I transferred the funds."

His voice is languid…bitter.

"I know I've told you this before. I'm going to miss you." He severed their long stare by looking forward.

Her brows furrowed, lips flexing into a frown as Shepard reminded her of reality.

She removed herself from the bed, stood in front of him, and offered a hand for him to be helped up. He took the two digits into his own and was gently hoisted to his feet.

Their proximity closed and they embrace tightly against each other.

"Don't worry, Captain. We've still got a couple adventures to go on." She whispered, chin digging deeper into his shoulder.

His soldered smirk made him bob his head in agreement. "So we do."

They remain in each other's arms, their orbs interlocking tightly as they get a sense of what was happening.

The subtle rise and fall of Tali's chest.

The dainty digits that grip his deltoids.

The sturdy frame of Shepard's pectorals…

The bold eyes that stare back at her…

"_G—__**G**__arrus? Wh—what the h__**e**__ll are you d__**oing**__ up here? You__**'r**__e supposed to be __**d**__—wn in the __**Me**__d-ba__**y**_!" Joker's voice permeated through the intercom's bland and compressed speaker.

"_Turn that_ _**dammm**_med music offff….it's….k**illll**ling my head!"

Some fumbling could be heard before a loud thump punched through the electrical static.

"_D__**amnit**__ Garrus! Hey! __**I n**__eed help! The damned Turian __**just keeled**__ over __**in h**__is own p__**u**__ke_!"

"I should go and check that out." Shepard muttered, his hands separating from the Quarian's.

"Good idea…" She mumbled disappointingly. "Go see if Garrus is okay."

"Yeah…"

Regretfully, they separate and the Human stepped into the decontaminate pod.

"I had a great night, Shepard."

"Me too Tali. We'll plan another get together soon. See you in a couple hours, okay?"

"Looking forward to it."

The partitions close behind him and she, once more, was alone.

"Keelah…"

A sensation, rife with exotic pleasure, exculpated through the center of her legs before she gripped the sheets tightly against her palms.

Her incisors dig into her lower lip before eyeing the shower with an imperious stare.

Her fingers glide along the section seals of her body before sheering off the prison.

An ascetic smile played across her lips when the last of her suit was shed.

The cool air was refreshing in _just_ the right places.

A shower was in order.

An _exotic_ one.

**…**

Shepard's eyes harden at his lack of congruence…

His lids flutter as he exits Tali's distilment pod before stumbling for the elevator.

His breath is shallow, his pulse thumping like tympanis through his veins.

Eventually, he entered the slow lift, and leaned against a stilt for support.

He was…_not_ acting like himself.

Part of him didn't care.

He had to remind himself that he saved the Galaxy…

Killed Saren…

Blew up a Reaper…

Just as he promised he would.

But…something was…ridiculously _off_.

He pushed on, passed the Normandy's diagnostics center, up through the frigate's monitoring stations, until he met the Helm.

He thought about Tali for a moment, his coaxed neurons sending him signals of pleasure.

The Spectre was pleased.

But his consciousness extrapolated the idea that despite the swell time he spent with the dainty and bubbly Quarian…

He just…wasn't acting like himself.

Maybe it was…inexperience with…brewing relationships.

Or his nerves…

Or the fact that he was finally…winding down after all these years…

But it really boiled down to just…

Not knowing about…_anything_.

"Shepard…glad you're here…help Garrus." The bearded pilot kept his berth from the Turian who lay in his own heaved bodily fluid.

Shepard also noted the Turian was topless.

"Where the hell is his shirt?" Shepard muttered, his fingers pinching at the bridge of his nose.

"I don't know…I'm afraid to touch him. Touching his puke might singe the skin off my fingers."

Shepard sighed once more before kneeling down to regard Garrus.

"Hey. Wake up. Before you drown."

His statement remained unrequited.

"He had too much to drink…way too much." Joker spat, his head shaking before creasing his arms along his chest.

"Did he, Joker?" Shepard eyed the pilot suspiciously.

The pilot stammered. "W—what?"

"People have been acting weird now that I've noticed. Do you know anything I don't?" He stepped closer to the pilot.

"What are you talking about?" The lieutenant's hands rise to his chest as he was gauged by Shepard.

"Joker. I smeared a _cupcake_ onto Tali's visor."

The pilot reeled, his brows widening in surprise. "Y—you what?"

"I don't know…" He shook his head. "I just…feel terribly off."

"Why the hell would you do that for?"

"I don't know…I just did. Come on. We'll…save that conversation for a later time. Shouldn't have brought it up."

"Say that to Garrus."

The Turian grumbled, the escaping air bubbling the putrid smelling puke.

"And…get a damned drone to clean up this mess." The commander growled as he managed to grab for Garrus' wrists.

"Come on you ugly hag. We're bringing you down to the Med-Bay."

"You're doing it again, Shepard."

"Doing what?" Shepard hissed, his eyes darting back to the helmsman.

"Acting weird. 'Ugly hag'? Seriously?"

The Spectre snarled, his brows nearly meeting in overtaxed patience before he pushed on with Garrus at his side, his gait hobbled and murky with intoxication.

"You…have fun with…Tali?" Garrus mumbled incoherently.

"Yes…yes I did."

"I need to take a shower…" Garrus remarked, his bare wrist slithering across his open mouth.

"I know. We'll do that first." Muttered the human.

...

"Shepard...the water is freezing…" The Turian grumbled loudly, his arms hovering over his chest as he swats at the water like a cat would at a trickling faucet.

"Someone used all of the hot water…" Shepard replied. "I'm sorry. You're going to have to deal with it."

"Who…who does that?" The Turian Growled, his drunken tenor doing all of the talk for him.

"Garrus…you're pretty damned drunk."

"I know drunk, Shepard…I don't feel drunk..."

"How so?"

The Turian remained quiet for a moment, his eyes closing before leaning his back against the wall.

"I have to piss."

"Don't do it here. The toilets are right over there. Think you can manage?"

Garrus never replied.

Shepard's head bobbed down in defeat before idly tapping off the water.

"Come on, Garrus."

"I'm so damned….cold."

"I know."

Shepard propped the drunken man up against the urinal before turning away.

_I shouldn't be the one doing this._

_Then again...I know Garrus wouldn't hesitate if the playing field was reversed …_

"Garrus. You said you weren't drunk?" The Spectre leaned against a wall; mind once more dawdled on Tali.

"No…I am…" He murmured, his shivering body dripping with droplets of icy water. "I think there was something in the drinks…" Garrus muttered. "Something bad…"

"What the hell do you mean there was something in the drinks?" His brows furrowed, eyes narrowing at the Turian's uneventful disclosure.

"I meant what I said…" He muttered emphatically, his hyperbole weakened by the dull throb of his head.

"Where did we get our alcohol from?" Shepard's tangible growl made Garrus think for a moment.

"Flux. We got our Alcohol from…" A burp belched from his gut. "…Flux; closest bar to the dock."

"I've got to go, Garrus." Shepard casually strode away from the small locker room.

"I can hardly…walk!" The Turian's murky shout was dwarfed by the dull hum of the Normandy's systems.

Shepard guided himself at an inconsistent pace toward the Med-Bay, his steps lining immaculately against the steady hum of music that filtered through the intercom.

Oddly enough…he felt…_great_.

_Confident_.

_Open about himself._

_That wasn't him._

His stupor was forcefully pushed from his cranium when he entered through the Med-bay doors.

"Doctor…you've got a small lab, right?"

"Of course, Shepard…" Chakwas spoke, her old hair swaying to regard him. "Why?"

"I think we need to do some blood work…or a drug screen to see what the hell is in me…and the dozen others that drank the party's alcohol."

Her brows furrow. "Everyone drank the alcohol."

"Then we need to get started."

"Sit down over there. Let's get that sample then."

He answered with casual action, hands propping himself onto the medical bed.

**...**

"Commander…you have Hallex in your system. More popularly known as _Ecstasy_. Human version, Haliomio-Cianiecin: Proved more potent than previous concoctions of MDMA. It's strong stuff, to say the least."

Shepard leaned forward as his brows furrow, hands tightly wrapping around his knees before exhaling bitterly.

"That…would explain a lot."

"A lot of what?" The doctor asked before sitting down next to Shepard.

"Well…the better question would be…how the hell did that get in our drinks?" He shook his head in disbelief before groggily running a hand across his cranium.

"Shepard. Flux is a club. Clubs have drugs. Lots of them. All you have to do is fill in the blanks, Commander."

"I know…I went there tonight to drink and celebrate with…" He muttered tactlessly before his sarcastic mirth fell from his lips.

It hit him like a brick in the gut.

"…I _**need**_ to see if Tali's okay…" He barely finished the words before jumping off the small platform to the elevator.

"Take it easy, commander! And tell Garrus he really needs to come back here!"

Shepard's brows glower as he remarked dryly. "Oh shi—I…left him in the shower…"

_This drug was really starting to make him feel more like an ass than a careless saint._

"You—what?"

The doors close behind him and he continued, his gait speedily hurling himself toward the elevator.

**...**

The…shower wasn't enough.

She…needed more.

It was…almost painful that this…hunger couldn't be satisfied faster.

A raspy inhale of air percolated through her lungs as she fell onto the bed, knees rising to let her bare and wet feet touch the bed's frame for support.

_Keelah_…

Her wringing hand habit was –_**definitely**_- helping.

In _just_ the right places.

Her wet skin soaked the warm sheets, her eyes clenching tightly as the pleasure increased tenfold.

Her supple lips, rife with hot flowing blood, splice before heaving a climatic and throaty moan.

She. Still. _Needed_. More.

"_Tali_!"

Her stomach lurched into her throat when she heard the Spectre call out for her name.

Oh nononono…

Are they're cameras in here?

Was the intercom left on?

_Did…DID HE SEE ME?!_

"Tali…" Shepard corrected slowly. "There was something in the drinks…in the alcohol…" He continued, even slower this time. "…are you…feeling weird, at all?"

"N-n-no…" She whispered.

Part of her wanted him to see her like this.

…Completely bare…and at his total mercy.

She reeled at that sudden thought.

I mean…she wanted to normally…but in the _context_ she put it?

Something _**was**_ wrong.

"Actually…I feel…a little…I don't know."

How the _hell_ is she going to explain this?

'_Yes Shepard! I do! I have this unfathomable and unsatisfying urge to copulate with you right now!'_

_Great_.

"Then it's true…there definitely was something in the alcohol."

"How do you know?"

"Chakwas just forwarded me results of Garrus' blood test. He has Hallex in his system too."

_HALLEX_?

"I…I consumed a stimulant?"

"Yes. And it's been making us all…act very weird…I'm sorry for acting…so strange...if you noticed. About earlier."

Her mind thought to the moment of when they were in her room together not thirty minutes ago…holding each other the way they did…

It…_wasn't_ real…it didn't mean _anything_.

Suddenly…she wished she never shared that pivotal moment with him…just to spare the sudden heartache she felt.

"Oh…it's…alright Shepard."

"I meant about the cupcake, Tali…about the cupcake." The man was practically struggling over his dyslexic words.

A sigh of relief washed over her bare shoulders.

"Shepard." Her voice, suddenly perky, spoke. "It's. Okay. For once…I'm glad we were a little…immature."

"Never take moments like this for granted…" the nostalgic words slip from his mouth unknowingly.

"Never take moments like this for granted." She repeated with an elated echo.

"Well then…just rest, Tali. It'll clear out."

"Will do."

"Oh, and don't take a shower for a while. Somebody used up all the hot water."

Her hands rise to cover her face in embarrassment.

_Oh Keelah…did I really use **all** of the hot water?_

"Okay…" She answered, her voice cowed with a grumbling sigh.

"Good night. See you tomorrow."

"Good night, Shepard."

The intercom's placid static ended, leaving her in the company of dull humming silence.

_Time to continue._


	13. Gone

I'm going back to updating every other day. The chapters will be short again.

Two more songs are up for your viewing pleasure!

Here is the playlist: **www.(S)(O)(U)(N)(D)(C)(L)(O)(U)(D).com**

Add with a forward slash after the URL:** nicholas-powell-2/sets/mass-effect-degradation-the**

Sorry guys!

Next section will be up on Sunday!

* * *

A dreamless slumber was always told to be the deepest.

It would submerge your subconscious into a neglectful condition of awareness, until you'd emerge from sleep with a tired eye.

The sensation was analogous to most species with the exclusion of the Salarians.

But Quarians, however, amalgamated the treacherous depressant of coagulated neural connectors quite seamlessly into their biology.

In conclusion…

…it was _very hard_ for a certain Quarian to stir into wakefulness.

"uuuuugh…" She groaned, teeth gritting from muscle pain.

Propping herself up, she eyed her surroundings, finding the eerie silence that oppressed the air slightly disconcerting.

The unfilled space that once occupied the Turian was empty.

"Garrus?"

A lonesome whistle of air answered her empty call.

She gulped audibly, a contemptuous pit wrenching her stomach lining.

Something…_wasn't_ right.

The gravel under her feet warps under her weight as she stepped forward to the bunker's walls, hands already working to climb out of the small fox-hole that depressed under the Normandy's nose.

Her chest cavity expelled a dry heave of air while she eyed the surrounding landscape with her shotgun.

Where the _hell_ is everybody?

"Hello?" The persistency in her grumble is laced in imprudent panic.

A distilled salver of fear laminated over her skin when she sees Garrus sprawled awkwardly across the ground, his rifle inches away from his empty grip.

_What the hell happened?!_

"Garrus…" She whimpered, shotgun dropping to the ground to examine the Turian's vitals.

Abbreviating the steps it took for a full medical evaluation, she grabs him under the pits of his arms to drag him toward the entrance of the Normandy's port.

"Garrus…you're really heavy…" She muttered breathlessly, her words punctuated by her languid heaves. "And…your….armor…isn't…helping…"

Her thighs touch the familiar curvature of the Normandy's metal door; a signal to drop the Turian from her taxed arms.

_Clunk._

"Sorry Garrus…" She grimaced from what seemed to be a painful fall.

She'd put him down more carefully…but…

He was just too damned _heavy_…

She entered the vessel, the thick shadows of the interior flattered by the ghostly silence that inundated the atmosphere.

Tali's foot steps pervade the hushed ambience, her heart rhythm amplifying to an ear splitting intensity.

She sauntered forward at a deadening pace, her proximity closing to the diagnostics center.

The metal floor embraced the Asari that lay on its cool surface, her petite outline swathed under the light of Tali's shotgun.

The confusion that saturates her thoughts magnifies with every step she took.

Passing the unconscious Asari, she pressed on, feet carrying her down the flight of stairs.

A Krogan, his figure dwarfed by the wall behind him, lay at the entrance of the Normandy's lift.

"Wrex?"

Bloody eyes split open, pupils contracting into a purposeful gaze.

The large man indolently examined his surroundings before hefting his bulked form to his feet.

"Wrex…thank _God _you are okay." She sighed perceptibly at her terminology before continuing. "What happened? Do you know anything? Remember anything?"

"I know as much as you do, Whelp." He murmured through an upheaval of air that he held in his lungs.

"Where is the Normandy's crew?" Her inquiry goes unanswered for several seconds.

"Don't know. Is it just you and me?" His teeth grate under the disparaged frown.

"No. Garrus and Liara…they're upstairs."

"They're unconscious then."

"How did you know?"

"They're not down here." His lumbering weight climbed the stairs, large hand reaching for the weapon pinned to his back.

Before the temptation to follow Wrex emerged, a pit hollowed her heart into a painful abnormality of dawning fear.

**_Shepard!_**

**_Where's Shepard!?_**

Her steps are laced with pacing anxiety, teeth clenching to grit against her lip and tongue.

"Where you going?" His question warrants nothing but an empty answer.

"Shepard…"

She heads for the Commander's cabin, her beating heart punctuated by the forward momentum of her legs.

The Captain's Quarters, swathed under the heavy shades of black, recess under the 100 lumens of light that search for John.

_No one…_

_"_Shepard!? John!"

Nothing calls to answer her desperate yelp for reprieve.

No…no…

_Nonononono…_

Her shotgun slips under waning grip, the lumens seizing against the cold surface of metal that serves as the floor.

Her knees join the dropped weapon, eyes chastising the bland walls that border her.

A soft sob managed to bubble out of her mouth as she lay for a minute in utter hopelessness.

Stifling the snivel that threatened to fissure her vision, she rose again, her hands grating under the rubber fabric that surrounded her fingers.

The idled foot steps Tali owned meander out of the room, weapon gripped tightly around her hands.

The base of the stairs still held the Krogan as he waited patiently for her.

She passed Wrex, his crimson orbs narrowing slightly from the Quarian's unorthodox behavior.

Her pace quickened, her gait heavy with tactless antagonism. The Asari, once unconscious, coughed violently before eyeing the Quarian.

"Tali…?"

Liara's query was left unrequited.

The delirious and prominent quantity of rage simmered through Tali's veins.

_All_ of it focused on that _damned_ Turian.

"_Garrus_!"

His small blue orbs fixate on the irate Quarian.

"Why didn't you wake me?!" She lowered down to his level, her hands straddling the small collar around his armor.

"Get your hands. _Off_. Me."

"Why, Garrus? What _the_ _hell_ happened?!"

His brows furrow into a disparaged expression.

Her breath is labored, her own eyes joining the empty and silent stare.

"I don't know anymore then you do." The tasteless reply came late, his glare never wavering. "I woke up here…and I don't remember a _damned_ thing."

Her lone finger points accusingly at the Turians face, "Damn right you did! I _dragged_ your _sorry_ ass here, you _Bosh'tet_!"

"_Stop_. _Yelling_."

She turned away, her eyes closing from the tumultuous headache that abused the front of her cranium.

Damnit…

…_Damnit_.

"Why are we still alive?" She choked, her mumble almost incoherent to the Turian's ear. "Those bastards…" Her growl is anything by tactful. "They're toying with us!"

"The Collector's took them. They must have." Wrex added.

"Then we're going to retaliate." Garrus finished by clasping his hand against Tali's shoulder for reassurance. "We're going to find them. And we're going to kill them."


	14. Retrieval

A/N: remember there is music I've created for you to listen while you read!

* * *

He stood up; heavily augmented eyes inspecting the shell encased humans like a child would with insects. At the end of the long chasm held their most imperative objective.

_Commander Shepard. _

"Your reputation has perceived you well." He quirked nonchalantly; his talons stroking against the murky glass. "If only we had a hundred of you."

"Reporting. As requested." A voice originated behind him.

"Status." The alien retorted, his four eyes never leaving to stare at his subordinate.

"The Hashvesks have nearly completed planet core manipulation." His answer was dispassionate and leveled.

"Good. The Information is being relayed. Harbinger will be informed. He will be pleased."

"We will continue to monitor Shepard's companions."

"Good."

His subordinate turned off, his heavy pace dissipating into the deep walled chasm.

"In good time, Commander. _In good time_." The inky blackness that adhered to the corners of the room overwhelmed his outline, his bulky weight dwarfed by the volume of death that filled the air.

* * *

"Our odds are low." The voice inflection Liara mustered to emanate did little to quell the pit inside of the Quarian's gut.

"How could this possibly work?" The bitter notes of her voice continue to tug at Tali's pessimism.

"Trust me." Tali retorted, her tone nearly deluding her cynicism. "We've got all the motivation we need for this to work."

"Liara—" Garrus offered, through a frown, a scoff of displeasure, while his eyes temporarily peeled away from the windshield to look at her. "Leave the doubt behind."

"Drive slower." Liara insisted, her trepid complexion never acknowledging the thwarting comment from the Turian.

"Every second we waste…is a second we give to the Collectors." Tali's digits flitter across the diagnostic screen of the Mako, mouth muttering incomprehensible slurs of words that caught no one's ear.

"Switching to Hybrid night vision." Garrus murmured. The windshield's thick polycrystalline composite saturates its haptic hologram with colors that heighten the plain's inky shadows.

Silence permeated the Mako's cramped quarters, leaving the engine core to hum as it continued across the landscape.

The still air within the cabin was suffocating, the silence only intensifying the anxiety that pulsed through Tali's veins.

"What's the plan?" Wrex spoke, the influence of his voice wilted with empty hope.

"Haven't gotten that far." Garrus continued to drive, eyes held forward, talons gripping tightly against the steering wheel.

"What do you have in mind, Wrex?" The Quarian took the Krogan's empty invitation for him to continue.

"Liara, had, under her discretion, planted surveillance drones to monitor the Collector's FOB. They transport supplies to and from their Ship that hovers above it." His eyes glare, teeth revealed under his sadistic smile. "That's our ticket in."

"It's all that we've got on them." Liara finished.

"No alternatives? At all?" Tali's eyes, encumbered by the Mako's logistical diagnostics suite, ogled Liara.

"We've got the Mako." Wrex started, his voice growling in pride. "A Battle-master. A Turian vigilante. A pure-biotic...and a tech-savvy Quarian." His lips swell into a zealous grin, his brows trimming the tops of his lids with fervor Tali had never seen in the Urdnot clan member.

"We've killed a Reaper. I'll be damned if these insects could give any bigger a push then Sovereign ever did."

"Or the Geth." Tali managed to murmur.

"Don't forget Saren." Garrus grumbled, hands swiftly turning at the next topical bend.

"…and the Thorian." Liara supplemented with a loose smile.

"Fact's like aren't easily deterred." The prominent plucks of the Turians vocals fill the room.

"We…we've got contacts." Tali announced, brows furrowing as she eyed the radar screen. "VTOLs. Two of them. At our rear…Twelve seconds to contact…"

"Wrex?"

"On it." The turret's thermal manifolds power to life, a canister loading into the MAC's breach loader.

A pair of explosions flanked the Mako's hull, the after shock expelling soot into the once hushed and gloomy atmosphere.

A piercing fissure of howitzer fire pervaded the air, the return fire shrouding a VTOL's surface into a thermobaric blaze.

"One Down! Take it!" The coaxial machine gun followed afterwards, the long bust of fire chastising the second aerial vehicle.

"Garrus! Give me a damned angle!"

The earth's fractured terrain features overwhelm the Collector's ability to find weapons lock.

"I'm trying Damnit!"

The canyon's contoured walls succeed at the next bend, the evasive propriety that strategized their advantage whiffed away by the uncompromisingly flat terrain.

"If you're going to kill the drop-ship, Wrex, do it! _Do it __**Now**_!"

The small VTOL increased it velocity to over take the armored car.

"What the hell is it doing?!" The Turian's talons clench tightly around the steering handle, eyes darting to eye the aerial vehicle.

The collector ship held the lead, its back latch releasing a myriad supply of spherical objects Garrus couldn't identify.

"What are those?" An apprehensive and repulsive grumble ruptured through the Turian's throat, his brows furrowing under the odd debacle.

"I'd rather not find out!" Tali commended through a vulgar yell. "Brace! I'm engaging the Mass Effect core!" She concluded by tugging at the small lever held at the Mako's center console.

The small jets navigate the MAKO's vertical plane high into the air, its armor plating coming to contact with the collector ship.

The invasive crash overwhelmed the ship's flight pattern, its unwieldy and overzealous weight burdening their mass effect core to overload.

Impacting with a cliff's overhang, the gun-ship banked into a sharp left before keeling into a ball of molting wreckage.

The Mako's six monstrous wheels lock, the dirt chaffing against the tire's fine grooved treading.

"Remind me not to piss you off, Wrex."

"You do all the time." He growled casually, his shoulders shrugging as he forced himself out of the Mako's claustrophobic space.

"Such a surprise to know I'm not dead yet." Garrus managed to murmur through a half-hearted grin.

"Let's check the new ordnance the Collectors so happily dropped off for us." The remaining three follow the lumbering Krogan, their steps an ugly chorus of ungainly clambering.

"Damn good." Wrex boasted proudly through a growl, his hands creasing over his chest as he surveyed the wreckage.

They push past him, their attention fixating on the small orbs that litter the ground.

"explosives, most likely." Tali's thoughts spoke aloud.

"…Tailored for armored vehicles. Look at the magnetic adapters that spike around them." Garrus pointed, from a safe distance, the outline of the rotund mine.

Garrus lowered to reach for a heavy piece of warped shrapnel.

Hefting the large wire frame, he prepared the shard like one would do with a discus at the Galactic Olympics.

"Watch out. I'm throwing it!"

"Noted!"

The deformed metal is released from his grip, turning the useless piece of scrap into a heavy projectile.

An unsteady miasma of electrical dissipation splintered the air as the plated armor closed its proximity with the 'explosives'.

The misfit group watched, through hardened eyes, as the mines adhere to disintegrate the projectile.

Their expressions are soured with the uncanny sight. However unorthodox, the effectiveness of the ordnance the Collectors deployed was strikingly impressive…

If not _absolutely_ brutal.

"Tali. Good job." The Turian mustered through a discouraging frown at the spectacle. "This rescue mission certainly would have fallen short if it weren't for your little save."

"Yes…It certainly would have." She nodded to abbreviate his thankful gesture before turning back to the Mako.

"Let's go. The amount of destruction we've just created is going to attract a lot of attention. They're going to send out a team to investigate."

"They already know were attacking." Wrex affirmed as the Mako's latch opened to admit the group through. "…and it's really a shame."

He turned around to face the Quarian.

"They're going to know what hits 'em now."


	15. The plan

A/N: Back to releasing every two days!

Two more songs:

1.) Before The Run of Suicide

2.) Collector Abduction

Enjoy!

* * *

"Ghost-1 Actual to Ghost-2 Actual, over."

The Krogan's audible growl over Garrus' COM bead made the Turian grin. "Cut the military bravado out Garrus. It's just the four of us."

"Copy, Ghost-2, Break." Garrus answered as he adjusted himself in the Mako's seat. "What's your status on the infiltration? Over."

"Letting the situation develop, Garrus. Let me do my job."

"Copy, Ghost-2. We'll be waiting on you. Keep us posted. Out."

The electrical static that filtered through the Mako's interior stopped as Garrus severed the transmission. The cabin is silent afterwards, save the occasional sound of chaffing fabric distressing the uncomfortable Turian.

"You ready Tali?" He asked, his head turning to glance at the soft-spoken Quarian.

"As much as a girl can hope to be." She whispered. He nodded emphatically, his head once more returning to gaze upon the windshield.

"I can tell you're nervous."

"It's hard not to be." She murmured through a disheartening sigh.

"Tali. I'm no more scared then you are." He provided, his eyes hardening to a degree that could bore holes through the windshield. "But we have a reason to fight. It's for our crew…for Williams and Joker…" He turned to face her. "But for you...your reason to fight is because of Shepard."

"…I—"

He interjected with a quiet raise of his hand.

"Don't hide it. It's…painfully obvious."

"Keelah…you knew? Oh I must look _so_ _stewpid_…" Her hands writhed amongst themselves inattentively.

"Tali. Who am I to judge?" His brows furrow as he looked to her. "You two have something that's truly unique." He eased off before settling back into his seat. "Liara and I though…heh…" He trailed off before looking down at his weapon. "…never mind…forget I mentioned it…"

The opaque glass that obscured her features turned to him, her silence urging him to continue.

"It's nothing serious…really…" He turned back to face her, plated brows furrowing as he spoke. "We'll get through this. We'll get Shepard."

They hold the stare for a few moments before she turned back to view the windshield.

"Will we?" The grim laugh that slipped through her lips was mirthless. "We're taking on a damned dreadnaught with at least a battalion's worth of Collectors…"

"We took on Sovereign and the Geth."

"No…_this_ is different." Hot tears are fabricated into fruition. "This isn't blind hope, Garrus. We know what were facing. We know what were up against."

His mandibles flare, his eyes piercing and cold. "That isn't going to stop me. And it sure as hell wouldn't stop Shepard."

"I know…I—know." Her head lowered, veil stretching for leeway. "_God_ Damnit, Garrus…what are we going to do?"

"Stick with the operation order we made."

"That _isn't_ enough!" Her hand is balled into a fist before she slams it down against the dashboard. "I just want him back, Damnit…I _just_…_want_ Him **_back_**…" Her palms hold her visor, chest threatening to tremble from a waning sob.

"Hey…" A gruff armored gauntlet is placed squarely on her shoulder. "Knock that off…we've got the Normandy to save."

She inhaled sharply, her escapade of emotional throbbing whiffed away from her demeanor like an electrical fire exposed to an airless vacuum.

"I…suppose."

"Damn right. I need the Snarky bubbly Quarian. The one with the shotgun remember?"

She snorts, albeit reluctantly.

"Yes…yes you are right."

"Good."

Garrus' COM bead flared its usual electrical alarm.

"Ghost-2 to Ghost-1 Actual, over." Liara spoke, her voice a hushed whisper.

"Copy 2. Radio check, over." Garrus inquired.

"1 Actual, reading you five by five, break." She paused. "We're preparing the explosive. We're changing the mission parameter. During our infiltration, we crossed a vehicle depot. Same model as the drop-ships we encountered earlier. We need to steal one. Over."

"Wilco, two actual, We're receiving your coordinates. Give us the go when you're prepped. We'll evac you when we ascertain the aerial vehicle. Over."

"Copy, one. Garrus…" Liara omitted the radio formality.

"Yes, Liara?" He spoke, the prominent strands of his voice plucking lower than usual.

"The detonation is going to occur in 30 seconds. Prepare. May the Goddess be with you."

"And the Spirits with you, Liara. We're ready when you are."

He severed the channel before facing Tali once more.

"Ready to bring Shepard back?"

"I am."

"Then let's get to it."

The Mako's diagnostic screens flutter with life, the audible and subtle sounds of electrical currents activating the massive engine. They begin their descent off of the Mountain's edge.

In the far distance, a large explosive ruptured within the Collector ground base.

The distraction was sent.

_It's time to get them back._

* * *

Her aura of biotic power swathed her outline in a hazy and concentrated sapphire.

Another dozen Collector bodies rise into the air for the Krogan's heavy rifle to take its picking.

"Ground resistance is heavy. They're pressing our perimeter…" She posted her situation on the COM unit, her breathing labored from the short and intense fighting.

"Okay, Liara…We're converging on their base, hold tight…" The Turian's voice is rinsed thoroughly with placid static.

She didn't have time to answer.

"Liara! Left side!" The Krogan announced through a fit of fury before his own aura of manipulative energy flared. His arm extended outward to warp the air before him.

Another dozen Collector agents fly into the air.

"_Die_ you_ bloody_ **_maggots_**!"

His arm, surrounded by cerulean saturation, is forced downwards. The helpless collectors are mimicked by his fluttering hand, and they are forced to the ground with an astonishing 15,000 Newton force.

The by-product was an unrecognizable pulp of organic mesh that coalesced itself with the dry soot of earth.

"Wrex! Another squad!"

"They're only **_warming_** me up."

The heavy semi-automatic rifle the Krogan wielded fired in succession. The collectors fell; the sub-sonic ammunition loaded into Wrex's weapon never prompting their kinetic barrier's to deflect the rounds.

"Garrus, You need to hurry…They are advancing on our lines…"

"Let them take their damned time."

Their pattern of biotic power adapted to the developing situation.

But the increasing rate of Collector soldiers that pressed their boundaries was beginning to tax their energy.

The Krogan, through century's experience, ejected the expelled magazine before inserting his _last_ one.

"I'm low!"

"That makes two of us!"

"We'll improvise!" He rose from cover, before emptying his clip into a fuel canister that neighbored the advancing Collectors. Like a ruptured vessel, it spilled the foul smelling contents across the courtyard.

"Grenades, Liara, Grenades!"

Acting on reserves, she pried the pin from the explosive before hurtling it over herself.

The proceeding explosion charred the local vicinity before enveloping the foot soldiers in a combustible flare of incendiary liquid.

They scream, their pitiful vocals drowned by the deadly acrimony of the flames outburst.

"Hell of a way to end a fight."

Wrex removed himself and heaved an exhaustive snort before settling his crimson eyes on a creature so intertwined with machine and metal—

…It made him cringe.

**_"You Will Know Pain."_**


	16. Infiltration

"Mass Effect reserves powering weight interval. Jump now, Garrus."

Garrus, through a silent acknowledgment, prompted the boost lever to vault over the large wall that surrounded the compound.

"Six-point ground contact. All wheels conditioned green." Tali publicized to the Turian before fixating her attention on the columned arrangement of Aerial ships.

"Good." The MAKO's six wheels lock to halt their acceleration. "No time to waste. I'm getting out to hijack a ship."

"Alone?" She asked through a disbelieving hiss.

"Yes. You need to stay in the Mako and cover me with the turret."

"Garrus…Please be safe."

He clumsily rummaged for his equipment before looking to her.

"Can't promise that."

The Mako's door allows the Turian to heave himself outside.

His strong stride carried him forward, the sprinting already challenging his oxygen intake.

"They're on queue, Tali. Collectors. Your front." Garrus announced over the COM bead.

"On it."

The turret's familiar controls slip into Tali's grip, her eyes scanning the dozen foot soldiers that ran across the field.

A perturbed smile played across her lips when she pressed both the triggers.

A sharp fissure of howitzer fire permeated the air, its predecessor singing a deadly tempo of staccatos, her composing piece themed with heated tungsten slugs.

The soldiers disappear under explosion's repulsive color, a hazy mist of organic vapor left to saturate the air.

"You got their attention Tali! Your left! 15 plus foot-mobiles!"

"Copy."

The coaxial turret gyrated on Tali's command, eyes attentive to the diagnostic feed.

She fired in succession, her short bursts fixed with determination. She fulfilled the heavy machine gun with another ear splitting 180 decibel crack of tank fire.

The resulting explosion ruptured an aircraft's engine propulsion; propelling the aircraft into another squad of aliens.

"Spirits! That was anything but subtle!"

"That's what happens when you take John. _Away_. _From_. **_Me_**."

"There's the snarky Quarian I remember!"

"This is Ghost-2! I need help! Help!" Tali's hands fumbled for the COM unit as Liara's voice splintered through the Mako's speakers.

"Status, Liara!"

"**I'****_m_**—W**e**r_e_...He—_Wr__**e**_...is...**e**a**_d_**—can't...**_ho_**l**_d_** out!"

"Hold on Liara! We're coming to you!"

The lack of response chilled the Quarian's heart to an unfathomable low degree.

"Garrus…how long until we get the drop-ship?" Her words are tinged with a heavy shade of desperation.

"Ten minutes, maybe more! Go, Tali! Go get them!"

"And leave you?! Garrus! Are you mad?"

"Don't worry about me! I'll be right behind you!"

A bitter escape of shallow air distends from her lungs as she lowered herself into the Mako's drive control.

"You better be." Her tactless stare is palsied with soldered hope, hands wrapping around the familiar curvature of the steering wheel.

The Mako's engine roared, the wheels expanding the distance between the two.

The Turian's eyes hardened when the Mako disappeared from view, his attention dilating under the pressures of combat.

"Damnit." The man hissed, his one point sling letting his weapon dangle between his legs as he continued search for a way to steal the vehicle.

"eh…here we go." His talons caress the ugly vehicles frame to unlock a door's hinge.

His success was met short when the Collector's retaliated, their 'mustered' courage already advancing on the lonesome warrior.

Garrus ducked instinctively, his rifle following closely behind for him to return the overwhelming exchange of gunfire.

His tactical disadvantage was going to leave him surrounded. Seizing the chance, he threw himself into the open cabin of the drop-ships interior before closing the door behind him.

"Not this time, you bastards." The collector's continued to fire, their light armament incapable of penetrating the vehicle's thick shell.

He entered the pilot seat, hands fluttering across the ship's interface.

"Seems easy enough." He shrugged nonchalantly before engaging against his better judgment.

* * *

The armored carrier's illustrious engine snarled, its wheels swallowing a collector whole as it drove through a structure's opened interior.

Beads of sweat line along the Quarian's brow, hands clenched tightly around the steering wheel.

"Bastards…" The Quarian sneered, her free hand gravitating toward the thruster panel with uncontained anticipation to vault over a wall to lose her pursuers.

She vaulted over the barrier, the sudden inertia taxing her stomach with a sensation intense enough to nearly make her stomach squeeze in anguish.

It made no difference. The pair of Collector tanks pushed through, the wall breaking under the megaton weight of armor.

"Liara! Are you okay?"

The eerie groan of static that fluctuates off the speakers answered for her.

She turned sharply before stomping on the brake pedal for the massive vehicle to decelerate.

_Dead end. _

Sparring no time, she removed herself from the driver seat back into the weaponry station.

The turret oscillated to level its ordnance at the corner's bend.

The first pursuer charged through, its speed accelerating to close the distance between the two.

She fired the howitzer, turning the vehicle into a blazing projectile enshrined with a spectacular array of shredding metal and fiery lights. At the explosion's apex, the vehicle gyrated on its horizontal planes before finally crashing down on the Mako's armored bulkhead.

It _nearly_ crushed the Quarian.

The Mako survived, its usual white cosmetic design stripped away by the vehicle's burning carcass.

"Ugh…" Her words are punctuated with the burning flames that threaten to overheat the Mako's windshield.

Her thoughts coagulate under the supple increase of cabin pressure, feet fumbling to catch steady ground as she clambered out of the totaled carrier.

There was no way she'd be able to deter her second attacker as she reclined herself from the Mako's interior.

The ugly tank's partition reared, its barrel protracting in preparation to release an unsteady salvo of ammunition towards the Quarian.

"Tali!" A Turian's voice is bathed in phasing static. "Duck Damnit!"

A piercing synthetic scream loomed overhead before drowning under the 120 decibel boom of charged ionic particles that protrude from Garrus' commandeered drop-ship.

The aftershock rippled across the ground, the repulsive vibrations jarring her bones as she pressed her chest closer to the ground.

"Keelah!"

The heavy investment of firepower destroyed her last remaining pursuer.

"You're in the clear, Tali! I'm landing!"

"Garrus! You Bosh'tet! You did it!"

"Damn right I did. Now, let's get Wrex and Liara!"

The burning ambience that permeated the air was deviated by the reverberating hum of crumbling rubble. Its focal point neighbored Tali, her weapon aiming at the distressing sound.

The facing wall, under the intense strength of a Krogan's blood lust, fractured and split before admitting a pair of tumbling aliens to plummet to the ground.

The mighty fists that grappled his opponent in a death grip muttered a string of inaudible words as the Krogan's grasp tightened.

"Heh…'_Know pain_', _my ass_."

His free hand managed to cradle his weapon before placing the barrel under the collector's chin.

The swollen head erupts into a shower of organic mesh, misting the thick singed air with pulpy remnants of Collector tissue.

Liara's disgruntled posture pulls through the ruptured wall, her SMG firing in bursts, her stock choking from recoil.

"We need to go!" Liara announced publicly to her allies.

The lusterless ship came into contact with the ground, and the three were admitted into the cargo hold.

"Get the hell on! Let's go!"

Tali, through a heavy deal of strength, pushed the armored door until it closed.

"Okay! We're good! Let's go!"

They wait expectantly, their pleading eyes trained on Garrus.

The inept Turian sat dazed as he ogled the controls.

"_**Fuck**_…I don't…remember _exactly_ where the throttle is..."

"Damnit Garrus! Look for something that looks like a throttle!"

"_IamIamIam_!"

His hands flutter hesitantly over the hundreds of buttons and icons that embrace the console.

She joined him, her eyes joining the desperate search.

"Just start pressing buttons!" Wrex grumbled accusingly, his fruitless voice chastising the two engineers.

"Do that and we might trigger a self-destruct sequence!" Garrus countered through a lucid frown. "_God_ Wrex. Your stupid just…_loves_ to shine at the –**_worst_**_-_ of times."

"You don't have much room to Talk, Garrus!" Tali yelled frantically as she caressed the ugly buttons. "You don't even remember where the damned throttle is!"

"Wait…I think…" His fist came into contact with a lever. "Found it! Let's go!"

His palm grasped the joy stick, his reclining grip heaving backward to lift them higher into the air.

They all heave a sigh of relief.

"And what of the other gun-ships the Collector's have at their disposal?" The Quarian inquired, sprawled hands gripping the pilot's head-rest.

"The ones at the vehicle depot? Destroyed." The Turian answered, his talon thumbing to the ordnance trigger. "Had time to blow up their fueling lines. Everything's a blaze…hence the smoke."

"Good."

Their eyes harden when the Collector vessel's elliptical contours engulfed the entire view of the windshield.

The perturbed view only invited death.

"I should have written my damned will when I had the chance." The Turian's cynical murmur went unheeded.


	17. The Citadel

**A/N: This Chapter is in Anderson's POV. He tries to get the council to find Shepard, reminisces over his side on the Battle of the Citadel, and Get's drunk. **

**I remastered Some songs on Sound Cloud. **

**Go ahead and Re-listen to MEDTVOL theme and Cosmos. While you're at it, check Heavy Fleet Too. I made them louder and clearer. :) **

**Enjoy! **

* * *

**|Chapter 13|**

**|Date: 12/10/2183|**

**|Location: The Citadel|**

Alcohol.

Pacifying to the terms of fate.

Yet…

A tangible burning to the invariable memoire of thoughts once lost to a man's traumatized heart and soul.

Another, rather long, swig had tipped Anderson to his favor, his murky buzz already making his eyelids lazy to the touch.

* * *

**-Hours Before…**

"Damned pretenses…" The Turian's tenor condensed into a flailing investment of brash behavior. The disconcerted scoff that slipped from the Turian shocked even those who neighbored him. Heedless of their icy glares, he left his podium, his willful stride only furthering the ambient intensity within the large room.

Against Anderson's better judgment, he spoke out, his voice perturbed with fruitless words to spew at the councilor.

"After all they've done, after all their sacrifices, after saving you at the cost of hundreds of lives...this is the **_best_** you can offer?" The man took a step forward, his posture assertive and combative. "What the **_hell_** is wrong with you? Will you show no humility towards the Commander and his team?"

The hot headed councilor stopped midstride, his back still facing the minute sum of congregators.

The human's expectations of the Turian only lowered when he received his answer:

A _big_ **_mocking_** **_laugh_**.

"This isn't about repaying _debt_, Captain Anderson." The exasperated words grind against Anderson's skin like granules of sand in a flesh wound. "Shepard is more than capable of monitoring not only himself, but his entire crew. Their sacrifice won't be forgotten. They have our _eternal_ gratitude."

"This decision is to be made unilaterally, Councilor." The olive skinned human countered. "I remember this being a _republic_." He turned his attention to the Asari and Salarian that stood at their respective pedestals.

"I'm sorry, Captain. We can not forgo special requests at the expense of taxing the public. Our heavy excise is already being invested to rebuild the Citadel." The woman's deep azure complexion stretched as she spoke.

"…Which could have been avoided if you listened to Shepard's pleas for help a month ago."

"We are in a very difficult position, Captain. You must understand that."

"I understand that you wasted beneficiary resources when you decided to abstain from a threat that nearly signed a death warrant to every species in the galaxy." Anderson's voice inflection growled angrily, his finger pointing accusingly at them.

"This is not debatable, Captain Anderson. We can not warrant a search party at the expense of the tax payer."

"They saved all of you! Do I need to recite their names? Their accomplishments? Or should I give you a grave reminder of how much we lost in a matter of hours?"

His inquiries went unheeded as their heads droop to fixate on their feet.

"…If you cannot see reason, Captain, then this concludes our meeting." The Asari matriarch announced before stepping off to exit the premises. The Salarian continued to watch the man, his eyes beading sorrow before leaving himself.

Anderson was left to stare at the bland floor, his eyes closing, fists clenching with outward malice.

"God…_damnit_…"

* * *

-Present Time…

Another satisfying swig of the brandy singed images into his mind, one he remembered particularly too well.

His head fell forward to rest on the table, a hand holding a bottle, the other an empty glass.

* * *

**-A little over a month ago-**

**|Date: 11/03/2183|**

**|Location: Serpent Nebulae/Citadel/Tayseri Ward/Alliance Prison Complex 1-B/Low-Level Cell Block 2|**

House arrest.

A swollen incline of heavy breath passed through Anderson's large nostrils as he watched the guards stand at the frame of his door.

M-15 Vindicator assault rifles rest along their armored chests, their eyes obscured by their bulky helmets.

He sighed, knowing the Alliance placed MP guards as a deterrent from trying to escape.

Not that he was going to…

What purpose would it serve other than to further sour his career with the Alliance?

The proceedings played through his mind, his right to a speedy trial delayed by the political ploys that were tasked and controlled by the Human ambassador he so willfully bashed to give Shepard time to escape.

He remembered the meeting with the Commander, his flank covered only by the dainty Quarian the man saved months earlier when their adventure first began.

But it was pointless to think of that now. The situation was now in the hands of Shepard's team.

He had worries of his own to take care of.

Assault.

Mutiny.

Insubordination.

Direct negligence of given orders.

Noncompliance of Alliance officer duties.

Aiding and abetting escape of detained individuals.

The list was long, and Anderson, not for the slightest of seconds, regretted any of decisions in letting Shepard and his team leave to save the Galaxy.

But as the seconds died down, he was left sitting on the uncomfortable cot, staring at the two guards standing at attention, their complexion drenched with military bearing.

"Is it really necessary for you two to stand like that? Relax."

His statement remained unrequited, his voice evaporating through still air.

He leaned further against the wall, his shoulders sagging as he watched the armed men with a careful eye.

"I remember standing like that for hours at a time for punishment when I was young." He laughed bitterly, his hands toying with the sleeves of his fatigues before talking again. "But then again…I was in the color guard when I was your age. It was good practice."

The two MP's, as they remained quiet, turned their eyes to stare at the detained Captain.

"Good times, those were…" His eyes turn glossy as he examined the lusterless details of the metal grates.

"...I wish you knew the gravity of what's at stake here, gentlemen. You will see soon enough. Be ready when it does."

As if the man's words were on queue, an explosion reverberated under their feet, the dull thrum of super sonic crackles dulled by the thick walls.

"What the…" Their break in bearing was the first sign of humanity Anderson saw in them.

"What's going on? Contact your superiors!"

"Way ahead of you, Captain." The grip on his rifle wavered to press on his COM bead. "Hey, this is Corporal Powell. Requesting status on perimeter?"

"Powell, this is Carnett…You…You won't believe it…The Geth…They're on the Citadel." A female voice had fluctuated through the electrical noise.

"Carnett, you okay? We're coming to you, hold on." His hand reached back down to grip the weapon's handle.

"Wait…What are we going to do with the Captain?" The other MP spoke to his partner. "We can't just leave him like this."

The NCO is quiet for a moment, his eyes turning to face their prisoner.

"Let him go. I'm not leaving one of our own to rot in this cage while the Geth attack."

"Come on, Captain, let's get the hell out of here."

They move out of the chamber, their stoic military expressions rife with impetuous dread.

"Come on, over here!" Their shallow pleas are overwhelmed by the panicked screams that inundated Citadel's commonplace.

Anderson lost site of the MPs from the violent shoving and pushing within seconds of exiting the building. The disorganized crowds cry out, their pallid screams of horror milked thoroughly across the streets.

Citadel and Alliance security forces alike attempt to usher the mass of people under control.

In the midst of it all, a small female Quarian nearly tackled him, her arms pushing at his chest to catch her clumsy fall.

"Ah! I'm sorry…I'm sorry! What's going on?!"

"The Geth! They're attacking!" His finger pointed to the Citadel's horizon, her eyes following the trace of the sky.

"Oh…no…"

Anderson was violently tackled by a human, her stammering apology whiffed away as the she continued to run.

The Quarian desperately helped him back up, her arms trembling from overtaxed fear.

"Keelah...Bassip sefalu ka Speh'loma Tip'ethe Bashama..."

His hand instantly drew forward to check his voice translator…only to find it wasn't there.

"I…I can't understand you!"

The masses ducked, their screams intensifying against the synthetic whine of a Geth drop-ship looming over head.

The hapless exchange of ephemeral fire from the law enforcement did little to quell the Geth troopers that were hurtled to the surrounding buildings. Their tactical vantage effectively pinned down the helpless crowds into a deadly crossfire.

"We have to go! **_NOW_**!" He grabbed her by the arm before forcing them to enter a nearby building.

"Nyalas Dulra'bassip'le Pasha?"

"I…my translator is gone. Lost it out in the crowd…"

"Speh Sefalu Chitda'mi?"

He shrugged as they continued down the hallway, his sweat shimmering under the passing of haptic lights. She understood the gesture, her arm unholstering a small sub-compact pistol.

_Smart girl. _

"I'm…getting too old for this." His palsied stare fixated at the end of the hallway.

"Mea'Yano Speh Dulra"

"So you can still understand me?"

"Gali."

"I'm going to take that as a yes." They come to a rest, his watchful eye peering through a corridor's bend.

"What's…what's your name?" He asked carefully, eyes never peeling at this vantage point.

"Nabi'Adda nar Somma."

"Okay, Nabi. We're getting the hell out of here, okay?"

Foot steps.

Synthetic Hydraulics.

_The Geth were in the building_.

His hand rose to warn her.

"They're upstairs…we can avoid them if we hurry…" His heavy and labored foot steps are more tactful, his trembling chest overtaxed by their power hungry run.

"Come on…we need to keep moving."

"Nas'Amra Pri'el'Saa speh."

"If I remember correctly, there's a service duct somewhere around here…"

"Sefa Speh Klipsra Nyalas Eg'amo'a?" She asked, her orbs twitching between his dark eyes.

"Nabi…I—I can't understand you…" His voice is tinged with irritation.

"Ji'eelm…Mi uh'lsh ulhmaesh'ieel…"

They continue in receptive silence until the human found what he was looking for.

"Fantastic. We found it. Come on. We need to hurry." His pits, darkened by his heavy perspiration in the heated atmosphere, flex to lift the heavy metal grate.

"Jump in…come on…it's heavy…"

"Oh…Keelah…" Bitterly, she let her feet slip into the service duct before he, himself, dropped in behind her.

His teeth grate; face creasing from his protesting muscles before lowering the large floor plate back to its original position.

"Come on…we're close to the evacuation docks…we need to go now, or it'll be too late."

They strut forward, their hazy outlines saturated under the crimson tones as they stoop under the large congregating pipes that line along the walls.

Synthetic Chatter echoed across the walls, their decrepit surfaces sutured with cerise colored tones that intensified the shiny glimmer of Anderson's beading sweat.

His salty excretion was chilled with fear.

"Damnit, Nabi…we need to move…_now_."

They're staggered meandering fledged into a sprint, their eyes splintering recklessly across the passing corners, her pistol dangling tightly around her grip.

They were pressed for time; and the Geth that filtered through the building's corridor's only hastened their effort to escape.

* * *

His tired breath is exerted to capacity as he slowed to a stop to stare at a metal grate to the Citadel's evacuation center.

"Here…Here it is. Watch out. I'm opening it." His fingers interlock along the metal's opening and heaved, his sweaty complexion warping under the heavy weight.

He exhaled tastelessly as he let go, the large titanium plating reverberating across the large room.

"Friendlies! We're climbing out!"

His public announcement went unnoticed.

He turned to face the Quarian, lines of worry creasing his face to emphasize his apprehension.

He lifted himself from the tunneling system, eyes systematically scanning the empty room.

"Come on Nabi…" She clambered out of the hole; pistol tightly packed away in her concealed holster.

"Where the hell is everybody?" The two separate to examine their environment.

He continues to examine the empty walls before the young woman spoke.

"Zueal'Ieem…Jajuma…" A perturbed voice left the Quarian, her lone digit pointing to the armored bodies of dead C-sec officers massacred under the heavy investment of Geth weapon fire.

His brows twitched as he ingested the gruesome sight. He knelt by one of the bodies, hands grasping around the familiar shape of an Avenger rifle.

_Much. Better_.

"Nabi. Prep the evac pod. It's too late to help them. Let's go." His leading tone forced her to action.

He circled around the large docking bay, eyes glancing at the minute sum of details that proliferate along the ceiling and walls.

The time to study the room fell short.

_The Geth found them. _

"Oh—_shit_!" The human ducked forward, his weapon taking the brunt of the fall before lining his back against a crate.

The Quarian, nearly unfazed by the sudden infiltration of Geth soldiers, awkwardly thumbed the console to release the docking clamps that cling to the ship's lusterless body.

The small pistol the Quarian is armed with fired in a slow succession, her hand choking from recoil.

"Oh…Keelah!"

The haptic light that hovered above the ship splintered from orange to blue, signifying to its future occupants to board the ship.

"She dashed for the entrance of the evacuation pod, her dainty form turning at the ship's opening to usher the human in with her.

There'd be no way he could make it.

The distance was too great.

"Mulsha Bah!" She screamed over the agonizing staccatos of Geth fire, hands flailing wildly in hopes that he would run to her.

"Just…Just go! I can take care of myself! Just go!"

He wanted to…He wanted to run as fast as his old and tired legs could.

Would he make it?

_No. _

"Li—_Liga_ _Speh_ Bosh'tet!"

"Nabi. **_GO_**!" He managed to smile, his aged face stretching grimly at his fate. "I'll be fine!"

Swallowing at his fruitless words, her shoulder's sagged before accepting the inevitable.

"…Keelah'Selai…" The ship's partition closed before the rail clamp heaved the craft into an airlock to jettison off into space.

Anderson, now alone and without a way to escape, fired blindly across the four machines that advanced on him.

His expense of rounds came to an end as he ejected the overtaxed heat sink to the ground.

Through a slurring of curse words, he tumbled back into the ducts he and Nabi crawled out of earlier in hopes of finding an alternative way to escape his impending doom.

* * *

-Present Time-

**|Date: 12/10/2183|**

**|Location: The Citadel|**

Anderson woke from his sleepless slumber, his blood-shot eyes teary from exhaustion.

He dreamt the dreadful memory just as he did for the passing month…traumatized by the fact that he never knew what happened to the Quarian.

What little solace it provided knowing that Nabi escaped wasn't enough to quell the senseless grip of grief and guilt that bothered his tired heart.

How far did she make it?

Was she caught in the lethal crossfire during the Citadel's space skirmish?

Was she even alive?

He didn't know, and it pained him greatly.

But he shouldn't be worried about that now. He needed to worry about the Normandy's crew, Shepard, and his team. He'd have to make some calls and get Search party situated without the help of the Council.

"Damnit Shepard…" His teeth grate as he removed himself from the chair, before laying himself upon the bed.


	18. Apprehension

A/N: And we're back with our favorite group trying to save their Commander and crew!

Enjoy!

* * *

"We've been looking for too damned long. If we circle around this thing one more time, we're going to get blown out of the sky."

"Really, Wrex? So nice of you to voice an opinion." Garrus growled, eyes beaded with anxiousness.

"Wait…right there. That looks like an entrance." Tali's digits hover to the windshield to point at what seemed to be a port to the Collector ship.

"Good enough for me." The Turian murmured before gyrating the joy-stick for a one-time chance to dock the ship.

_Violently_.

"Hey. Any volunteers for the side turret?" Liara armored glove slides the gunship's partition to the side to reveal the point-defense mechanism.

"I'll volunteer. I've been on a roll lately." Tali retorted thoughtlessly before powering the weapon's mechanism.

The Krogan's mused stare was complimented with a chuckle of invigoration, his bulky palm grasping a support stilt for balance.

"Favorite part of the day, Tali. Us kicking ass and killing things with the bad guy's guns."

"Anything about battle makes you happy. What is it about you Krogan's that love killing so much?" She countered, her rhetorical answer giving Wrex a reason to elaborate.

"The same way you love killing Geth. We Krogans…are just a little less…discriminate."

"Philosophy from a Krogan. Never thought I'd live to hear some." Garrus chimed in, his mandibles gawking at awkward angles.

"Believe me Garrus." Liara answered for his remark. "The Krogan...they'll never admit it. But their hearts are poetic and kind under their lining of settled dust."

Garrus and Tali laugh; giving Wrex reason enough to stare, rather embarrassingly, at the two.

"Poetic like the machine gun's they wield?" Tali managed to smile, eyes intently focused as they draw closer to the Collector flagship.

"That's much better, Tali. Yes. Our hearts are poetic for the heat of battle, for the indefinable blood-lust that's within _all_ Krogan." Wrex chortled, eyes glaring with anticipation.

"Enough fun! We're receiving flak!" Pocket-sized explosions reverberated around their small ship forcing them to jostle violently along the cabin.

"No Garrus. Now the fun's getting started."

"Shut-the-hell-up! Tali! Return the damned favor!"

"Can't get a good angle…plus, we'd be taking a chance of accidentally killing the crew!"

_And Shepard…_

Garrus nodded grimly. "I'm…not too warmed up with these controls…expect a little…turbulence when we land."

They all turn to the Turian, their faces muddled with icy stares.

"mmm…Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. We'll see when we get there."

The resistance had ended abruptly, knowing that their proximity with the ship was closing.

"I'm pulling in! Brace!"

"Garrus! Slow the hell down! We're…we're going in too fast!"

"Problem, Wrex?"

They enter the port, their ship grating along the flat surface of stone and metal.

Sparks dance around the gun-ship in a violent promenade, their jarring impacts sending the four misfits tumbling around the small cabin.

"Slow it down! Slow it down!"

"Here! Let me press on the brake pedal! _Oh WAIT!_ It's a **_damned_** Gun-Ship! Oh shi—_Brace _**BRACE**!"

Their impact sends them through a rocky recline, forcing the windshield's glass composite to shower the Turian in shards of broken crystal.

The passing friction intensified the armored plating to an unfathomably hot degree before they pummel into a support stilt, crushing the ship's nose flat in the midst of an explosion.

The final tremor had passed.

The group moaned, their brains taxed and flooded with mixed sensations of nausea, pain, and dizziness.

"Tali…" Liara whispered quietly. "…you need to pilot next time…" She muttered, hands smothering her dirty face.

"No. I'll never ride one of these for the rest of forever if I can. Come on…let's go check the perimeter, Wrex." Pushing down the nauseating sensation that built along the lining of her esophagus, she pushed on, hands clinging to warped metal for support.

"Garrus…you alright?" Liara called out between her fitful coughs.

"No…I don't think I am…" His ragged breath is wet…_Pained_—_rough_…

"Garrus!" The Asari crawled pitifully to him, seeing that he had a small pipe of sorts lodged in his chest.

"It's…it's superficial. Suit tells me—it didn't puncture anything important." His teeth grit hastily along his tongue, mandibles flaring from the apparent pain.

"Tali, Wrex…go check the perimeter…Garrus is injured. I'll tend to him." The Asari hissed before looking back to the Turian.

His digits wrap around the protruding anomaly, his gasp for air whiffed away by the pain when it was removed.

"Spirits help me." He mumbled incoherently.

If Turians could sweat…Garrus was.

"Garrus…you'll be just fine…" Liara muttered, her hands swathing his wound with sanitization pads before applying a liberal dose of medigel.

"Thanks mom."

For good measure, the Asari kissed the Turian's cheek, very willingly, to add to the joke.

"Come on. Tali and Wrex are already outside…"

He scoffed, a discreet smile placed inwardly across his Turian lips before removing himself from the helm.

They exit the totaled ship before Tali Approached the two.

"You got any guns to spare? Mine…got lost during our little…crash." The Quarian finished by gliding her attention across the vehicle's ruined finish.

"No…the stash of weapons we took was lost in the Mako…" He shook his head to further his point. "I packed light…only one gun and a lot of thermals."

"I guess I'm going to have to find a new one…" Tali murmured. "…until then…"

She unsheathed her knife until the lusterless blade is leveled with the Turian's head. "I've got this."

"Let's give my groin a wide berth from that, shall we?" His thick talons grasp the tip before leveling it back down and away from him. "…you know…for sentimental reasons."

"No guarantees."

"We're wasting time. Let's go." Wrex called, his disembodied voice amplified by the humid shadows that crawl along the cavern floor.

Tali is quite for a moment as she eyed her surroundings.

"This…this is a ship?" The Quarian's glowing orbs examined the corridors more out of necessity than interest.

"It looks no better than Tuchanka." Wrex growled, crimson eyes held forward, gait built and bulky.

"I can imagine." Garrus muttered, his strides summoning the courage to contest the Krogan's pace.

"Every time you two talk you could be giving away our position." Liara hissed, her brows lowering to glare at the two.

The Krogan thumbed to the wreckage far behind them. "That wasn't discreet enough? I say we let them know we're here."

"That isn't going to bode well then for our rescue mission." Tali argued, head turning to face Wrex.

"Yes it will. They're won't be as many to kill later."

Entering the spinal column that ran throughout the ship's length, they paused as their breath was taken away by the site.

"Spirits..." The Turian muttered, mandibles acclimatizing to the massive space.

"This...what is this?" Tali, like the others, stared disbelievingly at the vast expanse of empty space.

"I don't know…" Liara answered unknowingly. "...it almost looks like you could fit a thousand Normandy's in here and have room to spare for a dozen more dreadnoughts…"

"That's…undermining it." The Turian spoke up from his silent glare.

"Anybody hear that?" Wrex growled above the cold ambience. Their weapons—and Tali's knife—rose at the ready.

"I don't hear anything, Wrex."

"Shhhh." The Krogan's bulky finger hovered over his lips before staring back out at the immense span of empty air.

"You're right…it sounds like soft screeching…" Garrus murmured.

A hovering octagonal platform flew high above the group before disappearing behind a steep alcove. The four slip into the shadows, their eyes hardening at the frightening site.

"Think they see us?" Liara announced stoically, her pallid worry evident in her sweat calked forehead.

"They know where we are, no doubt about that." Garrus answered quietly, his fringe warping under the gaping stare of the yellow toned atmosphere.

"Let's just get Shepard and the crew out of here."

"And what of our way out?" Tali's pallid hiss remarked dryly to Liara.

"Find an alternative route." He shook his head for emphasis. ". Our OPORD's never survive first contact with the enemy. _Ever_." Garrus growled as they begin to walk forward at an irregular pace.

"We're going to have to wing it, Tali. That's the best we've got."

"The best we've got?" The Quarian's scowl fell upon the Krogan's cynical retort.

"Come on, Tali. We kicked Saren and his puppet Geth back into oblivion by doing just that."

"He has a point." Garrus chimed in, his mandibles turning awkwardly in an attempt to smile like a human.

"You always have 'points', Garrus." She argued against the Turian's arbitrary interjection. "I just want this to fall through."

"It will." Liara's empty eyes turn to face the Quarian. "It will, Tali."

The large Krogan paused before pointing to the machine. "And our luck may have just gone up ten fold. Look…a terminal."

"Finally…answers." Tali sighed audibly.

"Or more questions." Garrus countered through gritted teeth.

"Shut-up."

They circle around the irate Quarian, their bodies turning to face their flanks.

"Hurry Tali…let's not stay here too long." Liara whispered dryly, her words accompanied by the soft clasping of her sub-compact rifle.

"I…most of this stuff I can't even understand…" She replied tersely before sighing. "All I can see is some kind of…map…I think." She shook her head, her hands flexing aggressively against the haptic keys. "This is way beyond my comprehension…its all in some language my computer doesn't even recognize."

Garrus shrugged emphatically. "It's a wonder I even managed to start the collector ship."

"No, Garrus…this is different…" She argued while she continued to press her keys in hopes of finding more information.

"I can imagine." He snapped before his plates pull against his skin to make his point.

The conversation was spliced into silence, their gear quietly clasping along their armor as they shift their booted feet.

"Come on…we're wasting time. My tech savvy is falling short here." A flat groan was pressed through her lips.

_I have no guns._

_And my tech skills are of no use in this diabolical hell hole. _

"Damnit." She muttered, her flavorless hyperbole hissing under her breath.

"Come on, maybe we can find our way around here now that you've found that map." Liara mustered to say before they continue further into the chasm.

"We've got a weak lead. It's better than nothing, Tali." Garrus murmured for reassurance.

It did little to ease the Quarian's anxiety.

Her heart, slick with an audible and repetitive beat, drummed on in hopes that it would join back with Shepard's.

"I'm going to find you John. Even if it's on my last dying breath."


	19. Escape

A/N: I wanted to thank Exar and Mvipus for reviewing my story. They've been a great help pushing me forward! Thank you, you two. I really appreciate it. :)

When MEDTVOL is finally done, I will continue posting chapter of METSA. (I'm buying myself time to close METSA and stretch out her legs in ME2)

Enjoy!

* * *

Coagulant.

Congestion.

Thickening…

Murky.

The man's head could have been described with any one of the words.

A dirty mud caked palm rose clumsily until he slid it across his sweaty cranium.

His lips, dry and dehydrated, open to let a sharp inclination of air surge into his lungs.

Pushing past the pain and cramping that wracked across his rib cage, he forced his eyes to open, beading them relentlessly until he could see clearly again.

"Where the hell…" His slick and shiny hair, once cropped as per alliance regs, was now glossed with salty remnants of sweat and oil that contorted as he turned to view the shell he was incased in.

"Wher—where am I?"

The translucent glass, if he could call it that, warped the dusky atmosphere around him.

It didn't help that the glass was also polished with mud.

Swallowing the panic and pent up energy that he nearly puked, he placed his hands on the glass cautiously.

His internal clock also seemed to have been dysfunctional. He had no idea how much time passed…

It could have been hours…days even…

But it was irrelevant.

Noticing that he was still wearing his fatigues, he began to dig into his pockets, hoping that the gift from his daughter would still be with him. Wrapping his fatigued fingers around the familiar curvature of a screwdriver's handle, he removed it from his cargo pants before placing the sharp flat head against the smooth translucent glass composite.

His eyes tighten, his hands pushing as hard as he could against the murky surface. Leaning into the tool, he exhaled forcefully until it finally gave way. His lids widen in surprise, his expression of relief rewarded with a sickening crack of breaking crystal.

He repeated the unorthodox process and pushed out of the disgusting pod.

Cool air seeped into the well preserved cabin pressure before he finally stepped out, his hands and knees taking the brunt of his fall.

His chest trembled for air, his nose dripping with dirty brown sweat.

His whole body…_ached_.

Coming to his recessed senses, he eyed the many other pods that litter the floor and wall.

It wasn't just him…

It was the entire crew…

He saw their faces…

Pakti…

Barret…

Raymond…

Tucks…

Tears weld along his reddening eyes before wept bitterly, his drained feeling of utter hopeless admired by his putrid revelation of indecision.

He couldn't help them…not all of them…not without it being a suicide wish.

Guttural and throaty communication echoed along the walls.

_Collectors_…

His eyes widen in surprise and horror when he heard the startling noise…

He needed to get out of here…

_-__**Now**__-_

His eyes darted around for options to find a small claustrophobic tunnel that protruded from one of the decrepit walls adjacent to him.

Acting against his unperturbed judgment, he crawled into the passageway, hoping that he could develop a plan to let the others free.

He swore he would.

**_...30 Minutes Later..._**

"F—Fuck." He cursed; as he came to an abrupt dead-end.

He'd have to backtrack his past 30 feet into the last tunnel.

Now was _not_ the time to let anger and rage fuel your decisions; neither the horror nor the dreadful hopelessness that desperately wanted to cloud his judgment.

His plan was…pragmatic at best:

_Hide. Hide as long as you -fucking- can. _

And when the opportunity rears its ugly head…you go for the throat and seize that small window…no matter how insignificant.

He continued with a quickened pace before his brows furrow at his disclosed fervor.

…An…an opening!

The confining and unbearable spacing between the low walls made him pant and clench his teeth.

_He needed out._

The inky blank finally receded as he drew closer to the exit; his eyes brimmed with wet tears with the intense light.

He lingered cautiously at the exit, his ears and eyes carefully examining the proximity for threats.

Hearing and seeing nothing, he finally drew himself from the wormlike death tunnel and heaved a breath of exhaustion.

He was hungry, tired, sick, and weak…

But he pushed on for the Normandy. For her crew.

But more importantly his family…a father of two children.

A beautiful wife…all of them stationed on Earth.

He turned to his immediate left and was surprised to see a collector busily tapping away at a console.

The human lowered himself, his feet slipping ever so silently closer to the Alien.

The screwdriver, wielded more like a sharp stiletto than a tool, gyrates quietly in the man's hand as their proximity closed.

The man launched his arm high into the air before the tool carried forward into the collector's neck. The stabbing was repeated into one of its eyes before he ambled forward onto the collector's back in hopes that he could kill the thing as humanely as possible.

Gutting its head viciously, the collector dropped, it's bulky and heavy mass slick with putrid bubbling blood and cybernetic cooling fluid.

Forcing the empty bile from his stomach back down, He finished the wild stabbing when the collector's muscles relaxed.

The human's heavy breathing permeated the air, his palms grasping firmly on his knees at his taxing execution.

"Da—damnit."

His ears, recessed under the heaves of breath, finally become crisp again when his hand accidentally slipped along the groove of a weapon.

Probably owned by the Collector he just killed.

Crawling closer to inspect, his robust hands grip tightly at the handles of the rifle for a better look.

The weapon, for his size, was absolutely massive. Standing at nearly three feet, he was surprised it only weighed half of what he assumed it would be.

However awesome this gun was…he had absolutely no idea how it worked or what it was even capable of.

The only thing he could hope for was that if he were to pull the trigger, it would fire when needed.

_Hopefully_.

His stare wandered down towards his feet, his eyes closing as he swallowed the brimmed sensation of fear and death from his stomach.

He was ready…he needed to find the others again.


	20. Extract

"Looks like we're almost at the other end." The Krogan's low grumble was nearly overshadowed by their grimy footsteps.

"Agreed. Artificial light ahead; probably more consoles." Tali added, her idled footsteps adding to the nasty charade of pitter patter.

Their steady advance slowed as their backs line against the wall's flanks.

"Go on; let's see what we can get from these computers."

"Wrex. Watch our rear. Liara. Our front. Tali and I will see what data we can salvage."

"I really doubt you'll be able to catch anything I didn't." Tali spoke out loud to the Turian.

"I don't know. All I think we need is a little Vakarian touch." He turned to ogle her opaque feature.

"_…" _

"It keeps the spirits high, Tali." He chastised mockingly.

"How you've made it this far is something beyond me, Garrus." Tali remarked as her Omni-tool prompts an uplink. She was quiet for a minute before speaking in a hushed and perturbed tone. "How is it this easy for us to access their systems?"

"Maybe they were cocky enough to think an infiltration like this was a placid impossibility." Liara muttered groggily as she continued to gaze at her ordered vantage point.

"Or maybe they're just…toying with us." The Turian shifted his boot to let his toes rest.

"—and just hand us valuable information? Unlikely." Tali countered with a simple stare.

"I didn't say it was likely. Just that it'_s_ a possibility." Garrus turned to face the Krogan.

"I mean…it **_is_** odd…isn't it?" The man's fringe touched the back of his collar as he mused over his pensive thoughts.

"You're not talking about the Collector data, are you?" Tali gathered from his wary tone.

"No. Not exactly." Garrus, still, after a dusty gathering of his cynical hypotheticals, continued to work. "We've made it this far without a single fight? A single collector?"

"I'm not complaining." Liara answered, her eyes, wavering for a moment as she looked at him.

"Neither am I. Only that I'm sure that we certainly will be later." Garrus muttered nonchalantly.

"Damn right." The Krogan grumbled proudly. "Anything of use, yet?"

"…maybe." Garrus muttered stoically, his words punctuated by the caressing bloops and beeps of his small electronic calibrator.

"Math is a universal language. We all know that...right?" Garrus announced publicly for their attention.

"Leave the tech banter out." Wrex chastised.

"Fine. I found energy signatures. Channels. Temperature sensor readings all throughout the ship."

"You infiltrated their life-support computer diagnostic suite." Tali spoke more out of a statement than astonishment.

"Yes. I did." He took a step toward the Quarian, his Omni-tool raising for her to get a better look. "You can see where the drive core and mass effect dampeners are being held. The lighter signatures must be the collector's themselves…" The Turian spoke the words with an acerbic aroma.

Garrus' eyes mend and narrow at his prosaic disclosure. "Look at how big of a berth they've been giving us. There isn't a Collector within 400 meters of our position."

"They are definitely avoiding us, then."

"Good. Maybe they realized we're too much for them." The Krogan's licentious tone nearly made the others scoff.

Tali then spoke impetuously as she fought down the temptation to wring her giddy hands together. "Garrus…we can use those diagnostics to our advantage…switch the radiation dexterity to a median birth of 37 degrees. Celsius."

A detestable amount of time passed before Garrus spoke again.

"Done…" His plated brows furrow. "Switch the sensitivity to a specific region…and they're you go…nice call, Tali. We just found the location of the Normandy's crew."

Garrus' eyes rise from the small screen to look at her. "How did you know human temperature is at 37 degress?" His stare, smothered with a pig-headed grin, prickled across his Turian mandibles.

Wrex added tersely, his forearm resting along the Turian's shoulder for good measure. "Yeah, Tali…how _did_ you know?"

"…Comes part of the Flotilla's six month basic training we're outfitted with before pilgrimage." The awkward shuffling ended as she swiftly turned off her Omni-tool to face the two men.

"That's an odd thing to learn about, don't you think?" Garrus ascetic smile nearly made Tali choke at her words. The Krogan shoulders shake with filaments of snickered laughter.

"C-Come on, Liara…" The Quarian quickly waddled clumsily over to the Asari.

The Turian waited until Tali was out of ear shot to speak.

"Maybe…we should leave it be, Wrex. She's…hurting right now. Until we find Shepard, at least." The Turian murmured as he turned to face Wrex, eyes cold and hardened.

Wrex, after a stoic stare, nodded once, his pallid eyes understanding to the Quarian's under kept secret.

The Turian separated before approaching the two girls. "I'm designating their location with a NAV point…you synced?"

"Yes." Tali muttered with a congested sigh.

"Good. Then let's go. We're almost too them."

"What's our berth?" Liara asked as they fall into a tactical column.

"300 meters."

"Then they're close." Liara muttered as she eyed the detested walls with a pallid stare.

"Indeed they are…" Garrus replied mirthlessly, eyes staring down the barrel of his rifle.

"Then let's _hurry_ this up." Wrex replied with a simple inflection of his voice.

"Calm down, Wrex. Maybe you'll realize that not having a battalion's worth of collector's breathing down our necks is a good thing. That wide gap is something to be happy about."

"You and your sniper rifle make a good pair…you know that right?" The Krogan's smile curves upward a little higher.

"Why is that?" Garrus remarked to Wrex's unusual stigma.

"You like to keep _everything_ at a distance." The dinosaur interrupted him. The walking keeps up for a few more steps before the Turian eyes narrow at the insult.

"I'm surprised you'd even go that far."

"I can only imagine what your -**_real_**- love life is like." Wrex continued, his smile leveling against the man.

"Non existent…" Garrus countered with a snort. "…because I keep everything at a distance._ I get it_."

"Can you save this banter until we get back in one piece?" Liara hissed, her supple lips quivering with an insipid scowl.

The conversation ended abruptly with Liara's tensed reproach as they continue for another sum of countless minutes before slowing to a halt.

The four stare at each other expectantly until Tali grabs their attention with a single raise of her arm.

-LOOK- Tali signed with her hands. –OUR FRONT. COMPUTER. ONE BODY.-

The others nod silently and Garrus relayed. –WE WILL APPROACH. COLUMN _TWO _IN THREE SECONDS. COPY?-

They all reach for each other's wrists. –COPY-

They move with deadly precision, their impervious formation ready to dump an invective quantity of slugs toward their enemy.

Their impassive stares finally faltered, seeing that a threat was never presented.

"We didn't kill this poor bastard." The Turian mumbled first as he bent down to stare at the mutilated alien. "Looks like he got stabbed repeatedly with some kind of…prodding tool. Work at C-sec tells me a screwdriver—crude." He shook his head, his stare monochrome and hidden. "…Hardly effective."

"Do you think they escaped? Did Shepard escape?" Tali anxiously spoke out as she eyed the insectoid.

"Hard to say. It could be any one of the crew."

"We aren't getting any more answers here. We should keep moving."

The Krogan and Asari peel their detached stares away from the collector body before sauntering forward deeper in the cave. Before Tali could follow, Garrus idly placed a gauntlet over her shoulder.

"Tali."

She turned to stare at the Turian.

"I know where your thoughts are. We'll get him back." His voice lowered into a disparaged whisper, his mandibles flaring for her acknowledgment. "And be damned if anyone gets in our way."

"Thank you Garrus…" She mumbled, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "I know we will."


	21. Breaking Glass

It was as if he was being….watched…

Being listened to…

But they were devoid of life…

dead…

r-_right_?

But they had eyes…_eyes that_ stared back at him…hundreds of them…

Those pods…waiting silently in recognition…knowing that their empty stomachs would soon be filled with the tasteful delicacy of human flesh.

He stared back, his mouth agape as he eyed the many husk like shells, his mind contesting the dark whispers that infiltrated his mind.

But he was a strong man.

His brows glower, his face grating into an intense stare.

"Fuck you." He said silently, his hands gripping tighter against the collector weapon he held. "Fuck you all."

But despite human's strong will, his mind was losing a battle he knew he wouldn't win.

It was if he was…succumbing to a force beyond his control.

Was it…his imagination? The stress of imminent doom? Fear, maybe?

He knew of indoctrination…but only that it related to the Reapers.

This had to—it must be unrelated.

Whatever it was…

It was deadly and potent concoction. But he would fight for as long as he could.

_Forever_ if he needed to.

He had _too_ much to live for.

His daughter.

His unborn son.

His beautiful wife.

This is what kept him fighting.

His eyes harden, his hair and skin rippled with goose bumps when he heard more audible whispers.

Were they in his head?

No…no…they were coming closer. And he started to see an orange haptic glow.

The low lumens show four silhouettes.

They couldn't be collectors….no way.

One towered over the others like…like a Krogan!

"Identify yourself!" He yelled out. The four figures freeze before their flashlights burn across his retinas.

"I'll be damned…Marcus?! Is that you? Marcus Grieco?" Wrex growled astonishingly.

The man fell to his knees in relief. "Thank the lord…" He pleaded, his eyes brimmed with tears.

"Come on, Grieco…" Garrus approached the man. "We ain't out of this yet." The Turian lowered to a kneel as he placed a palm on his shoulder.

"We need to get the rest of the crew." Garrus added.

"Did you see Shepard?" Tali managed to ask as she approached him.

"No…but I know where to go to find them…I escaped."

"That much we can piece together." Liara surmised. "You're safe with us, Marcus. We can make it out of here together."

"How did you guys get here? Where are we? How long has it been?" Marcus stood back up, his eyes pleading for answers.

"Hours…nothing more…" Tali answered quietly. "Do you not remember what happened to you?"

"No…not entirely. Only that I woke up in a pod like the ones you see above you." He pointed toward the ceiling. "But I wasn't alone…we've got to go back. We've got to get the others."

"Slow down, Grieco. One thing at a time." Garrus muttered before eyeing Liara. "To answer your other question: We fought our way into this ship."

The man visibly paused as he ingested the information. "This—we're in a ship? Where are we exactly?"

"We're still on the planet. And we've been spending the last hour trying to find you...Think you're still capable of fighting?"

"Yes. I do."

"Good. Let's get to it then." Wrex growled.

"Wait…The way I came through…" Marcus began, his voice weakened with fatigue. "You and Wrex couldn't come. Not without finding an alternative route."

The four stare at him.

Tali is the first to ask. "What do you mean?"

"I escaped through a tunnel…one that could only fit the three of us. Garrus and Wrex…they'd have to find another way around."

"What do you suggest?" The Asari's frown was placated by the hand that hovered over her mouth.

"Split up." Grieco mustered to say before he was rudely interrupted.

"No way." Garrus countered. "We don't know what will happen if we do. We need to stick together and come out of this in one _damned_ piece."

"Can you think of an alternative then? Or would you like to waste the time we don't have to make a plan?!" Grieco approached the Turian with furrowed brows. "That isn't something we can afford!"

"We didn't go all the—"

"Enough! Both of you. Garrus. We're following with Grieco's plan." Wrex put a tough arm on the Turian's deltoid. "Come on."

The Turian vainly pushed off the Krogan's arm before leveling off. "We'll rendezvous with you three when we can. Ping us your location every twenty seconds."

The Krogan and Turian begin to jog before disappearing under a small alcove.

"Come on." Marcus waived to the Quarian and Asari before backtracking towards the tunnel.

Soon enough, the Human crawled back into the confining duct, with his friends close behind.

As Tali fell to her knees and began crawling, her mind wandered to the night of her first romantic encounter with Shepard.

It was, unfortunately in her eyes, innocent.

The night ended with staring eyes and serene slumber.

They didn't even kiss...

She wanted to, though.

_She wanted to do more than kiss. _

And she regretted not taking advantage of that moment when she could have.

Her thoughts are swathed by the sounds of throaty moans and twisted sheets; lustful ideas that rummaged through her mind with an apex unlike anything she could ever imagine.

"John…" She muttered witlessly as she continued her unorthodox crawl.

"Come on…we've got a ways to go." Marcus garbled tastelessly.

"Then let's hurry…this mud…it's horrendous." Liara remarked with a groan of protest.

The heavy vapor and dirt that inundated the thick atmosphere adhered to Tali's visor, leaving a translucent layer of mud to subdue her mask's clarity.

"How long?" The Quarian murmured under the short inhales of breath.

"Not much. We'll get there soon enough." Marcus replied as he tried to turn his head to regard her.

"To the left." He muttered.

"My legs…are starting to cramp." The Asari whispered as they continued. "Topping that…remember the sand on Virmire? Getting in places, Tali?"

The Quarian's reply was mirthless. "I don't have to worry about that, Liara. You should really consider getting better armor."

"I'm sorry…" Liara's brows frown. "I was just—"

"—Trying to make me feel better? I know."

"We're here." Marcus hissed. "Liara and I will clear the area in a single column."

The man pried himself slowly from the encumbering space before sweeping his vectors with his collector rifle.

"Come on."

Liara followed through and fell behind the human.

"Tali. Let's go."

Lastly, the Quarian idly ducked her head before emerging from the cramped hole.

"The crew…" Tali gasped as she ogled the shells that littered the ground.

Her glowing orbs stared with an inherent haste as she tried to make out the faces of the human crew.

Shepard. He was here.

She could feel it. Her heart knew it.

"John…" Tali's languid whisper was quickly followed with a desperate attempt to wipe the filth that congested the dirty glass of a nearby pod. "I know you're here…" Her palms hovered over her visor for a moment to peer inside before noticing Liara and Marcus caressing a pod's contours with their hands as their lips moved. Tali amplified her audio receptors until she could hear their idled conversation.

"—nd that one over there is the one I broke from. Escaped the damned thing with this." Marcus, with a free hand gestured to the Asari with the tool he held in his hands.

"A screw driver? Was it you that killed the collector we found in the caves?"

"Yeah. I did that. Come on…There must be a latch system here or something."

The Quarian's lips had tugged into a frown as she noted how they weren't making any more progress than she was.

She was also disappointed that the pod she had so desperately tried to look through didn't contain Shepard.

"We can't pick or choose. We start with one and work out the rest." Marcus growled before slamming the butt of his weapon against the glass shell.

Liara stared at his impulsive smashing before resuming her effortless examination.

"Tali…pick one." Liara muttered as she tried to feel for a lock.

"I _am_!"

_I need to find -__John-__ you bosh'tet._

"I'm not going in blind. We figure out how to open this one so we can do this faster with the others." The Quarian remarked rudely as she approached their respective shell.

"Then help." Liara chastised as she tried to lift the casing.

"No need!" Marcus punctuated his words with fistfuls of slamming. "The glass is about to break! Give me some damn space."

His last word fell to deaf ears. The cracks that fissure along the crystal composite crawl across the glass before finally giving way.

The unconscious human is showered in harmless bits of glass before they force her out.

Marcus cradled her closely before placing his fingers over her neck.

"She's…she's good. Liara: Get started on the others. I'm going to try and wake her up."

She gave an empty node of approval before heading off to the next shell casing.

"Tali?" Liara called out in a hiss, her eyes searching for the Quarian. "Tali!?"

Her calls are answered with distress.

"I found him!"

"You what?"

"I found him, Liara!" The giddy excitement that bled from Tali's voice made Liara's lips tug into a smile. "It's Shepard!"

Liara's exhausted nod of acknowledgement was interrupted by Marcus.

"Good…Get him the hell out of there. If anyone can get us out of this mess…it's Shepard." Marcus called out as he continued to slap some consciousness to his fellow crewmate.

Tali couldn't hear Marcus. Her concentration was totally beset on Shepard's cataleptic breath, shut eyes, and slack jawed frown.

"John…I'm going to get you out…don't worry…" Her Titanium blade carefully oscillates in her hand before wedging the serrated edge into the shell's seal. She pushed against the handle for leverage before sawing the knife along the edge in an attempt to break the air tight impress.

"I'm almost there….just wait a little longer." Her jaded breath managed to mumble a slur of incoherent words as she pressed harder onto the blade.

The knife slowly worked its way across the seam, severing the thick synthetic hide that separated her from John. Her knife finally punctured the seal which allowed the foul smelling air to seep out from John's shell.

The grimy film of filth that severed Tali's connection with John came to an end. The folded partitions finally fractured under the blade's hard incision; allowing her fingers to frantically push the glass door aside.

"…John…" Tali slowly fell on her knees before placing a warm two fingered touch against his moist neck.

The languid rise and fall of his chest helped sooth Tali's defiled mood.

Her mind finally deviated from her soldered and impervious disposition when she gazed upon Shepard's sweaty complexion.

The Quarian's cheeks flush into a hazy shade of ruby red before pushing away the intermittent thoughts of sex.

Her arms reach for the man's shoulders to lift him out of his cell before setting him along the ground. The relief was palpable…but she needed him to wake up.

"Shepard….John…wake up…we have the Normandy to save…" She knelt beside him with an impassive stare, knees awkwardly hanging at an acute angle to hover over him. Her two digits sluggishly grip his collar before introducing him to outside stimuli.

"Come on…We need you…_I_ need you."

Shepard's upheaval of air was quietly silenced by his remonstration.

He grabbed for Tali's wrist before frowning.

"Five more god-_damned_ minutes…Jesus." He pushed the dainty arm away from him.

"John!" Her brows furrow at the irony. "You aren't in bed!"

His glossy eyes bead open, his hand slowly reaching for his slack jawed face.

"Then where am I?" He asked with an afflicting yawn before wiping the slick filth that coated his face.

"On a Collector ship, John…"

The thick sense of fatigue is sucked freely from his head as he heard that. "_What_?"

"We're saving _you_ Shepard." She sat next to him with her knees bent as he tried to gauge his surroundings.

"Where are the others? Is it _just_ us?"

"No…Garrus and Wrex had to find another way around." The commander's forehead is suddenly creased with worry.

"You guys split up?" The tone he carried almost carried malice.

"Yes…We _had_ to." Tali countered with lowered lids. "They'll be here soon."

He nodded before reclining his head to stare at the sickly colored details of the room. "Where did you say we were again?"

"The Collector ship…right above Ullipses." Tali answered quietly before standing. "You were captured. We came here to get you out."

"Tali…" John's hand absent-mindedly found hers. "I can't imagine what you went through to get here…"

She nodded in silent acknowledgement before tightening the grip around his five. "We're right in the thick of it right now. But with you here…" Her mouth hung open as she tried to formulate another string of words. "...it should be easier."

Shepard's eyes, once hardened under the Collector's confusing morass of capture, soften into an idealistic complexion. A look she had come to fall in love with.

Tali's head lowered, brows furrowing before her voice is muddled and exhausted. "I missed you…"

"How long has it been?"

"Nearly a day." Her hand squeezed his.

"Now that's not too long for you to miss me." His toothy grin nearly made her snort.

"It is when you've been fighting for hours."

"Fair enough…Well I'm here, Tali." His strong eyes pierce through her thick tinted glass.

"I know…and it's good to have you back." The strain she used to emphasize her words made Shepard's brows frown in worry.

The man pulled her in for heartfelt embrace.

"I know, Tali. Let's get the _hell_ out of here."

"Let's."

They separated, and the man's words become commanding and hardened once more.

"Liara…Guard the exit. Tali, Marcus, and I will try to get the others out."

"On it Shepard." The Asari felt for the plethora of thermal magazines on her chest rig before shouldering her sub machine gun.

"Busy Commander, trying to wake up Lowe here." She shook the unconscious crew member for good measure. "She ain't waking up…"

"Keep trying. Tali and I will figure something out."

"Actually, there's already a way to unlock these cages…" Tali's knife was removed from her sheath before picking a filled casket. "Sever the lock here and the glass door can be removed."

"Perfect…but we only have one knife…" Shepard's hand feels for the stubble on his chin before wiping the sweat across his forehead."

"Then maybe there's a controller here somewhere…" Tali began as she started to examine her local surroundings.

"Look for one, I'll get started." He analyzed the sick and disgusting patterns of the rotting walls before muttering under his breath.

_This is a ship? _

And these people were relying on him? He turned to gaze upon Tali who occupied her time looking for a console before disappearing behind the short stretch of columned caskets.

The cocktail of hope that weighed heavily on his shoulders was overwhelming. Like filthy intoxications to deter a man's maltreated judgment.

He couldn't fail them…

_He __**wouldn't **__fail her. _

His brows narrow together as he pressed forward to the closest casket next to him.

"Pressly…" He managed to grumble as his hands trim along the granules of dirt that line the glass. "Hold on. I'm getting you out." He pushed upwards against the latch.

Shepard's frown intensified with uncertainty when the glass door was removed without any real effort.

He then realized all of the pods had peeled back their disgusting layers of glass.

The entire crew fell from their open cages, all of them unceremoniously hitting the ground in crumpled heaps.

"I did it!" Tali called out excitedly. "They should wake up any minute now!"

"_WE_ don't have the luxury to wait that long!" Liara called out before firing a volley of staccatos toward a single collector unlucky enough to storm through.

"Then buy us some time, Liara. We have to get the crew up." Shepard turned to the Asari before his complexion hardened. "You can do this."

She nodded indignantly before ejecting her spent thermal shell into a dump pouch.

"Just hurry."

"Noted." Shepard's hand wraps around Pressly's dirty collar. "Wake up, XO, we've got to get the hell out of here." The man's receding hair line suddenly lowered when his eyes opened. "…where are we?"

"In a bad place, Pressly. Help the others. Get moving." The Spectre's dirty hand grips his shoulder before pushing off to the next casket.

"Tali! How are we doing?!" John's voice called out to the Quarian at the far side of the room.

"Half the crew is awake! Another minute to get their bearings!"

"Liara, you hear that?"

She fired another long and satisfying burst into another Collector that managed to burst into the room.

"Yes!" She was suddenly joined by other members of the crew, their weapons seized off of the Collector's she had killed.

"We've got your back, Liara."

"And I've got yours, Chase." They nodded to each other before unleashing their heated slugs into the fray.

* * *

"Funneling over people through that claustrophobic death trap _is not_ a good idea." Tali's knuckles whiten as she pointed to the dirty chasm.

"Agreed. We need to find an alternative route…" Marcus nodded as he jostled his weapon for good measure.

"A hanger bay…find us a damned hanger bay, and I can fly us out of here…" Joker's sarcastic mirth was left entirely absent.

Shepard considered the plan for a moment before speaking to the men closest to the Flight Lieutenant.

"Tucks…Chakwas. Keep Joker safe. He's our best chance of escaping." The Commander's brows furrow as he wiped his sweaty hands dry at the base of his shirt. "The rest of us will create a unilateral firing line…fight our way until we can find our objective."

"It's been ages since I've seen combat, Shepard…time to work out some kinks." Pressly's grip tightened around his concealed standard issue Predator. "Through hell and back." The man's brows furrow for added emphasis.

"Don't worry, sir. We're already in hell right now. We're looking for gettin' out."

Small half-hearted chuckles were shared in the prison.

"Duly noted, Tanaka." The XO gestured his hand in a berating manner to the crewman. "Waiting on you, Commander."

The burdened silence permeated the room when forty-eight expectant pairs of eyes fell upon John Shepard.

Shepard's gaze returned to them at timed intervals before finally looking to Tali.

She met his gaze with a transparent stare…one that signified trust…faith….

_Love_.

He returned the gesture with a fixed and subtle grin before giving her a stagnant nod.

She returned the signal with a small and curt tilt of her head before inwardly placing her fingers over her mouth piece.

"I would be lying if we weren't in hell already, ladies and gentlemen. Pressly and Tanaka have made us all very aware of that." The crew chortled a little more at the mirthful tone. Shepard's reddened eyes remained fixed on Tali's Sapphire stare. "But we've made a precedent, all of us, on achieving the impossible. We have something to fight for, my brothers and sisters. Family…" His brows lower as he continued to stare at the Quarian. "…and those we hold close to us: fight for them."

He pressed a lone digit toward the door to patronage an emphasis for hope. "Let's go home, people."

The men and woman of the Normandy SR1 cheered as loud as a thousand strong before storming off into the unknown.

* * *

"Wrex? You hear that?" The Turian screamed as high as his throat could muster as he fired from his rifle.

"Gunfire?" A temporary pause from Wrex's rifle allowed him to speak to the Turian's condensed tenor.

"No. I hear cheering."

"Good. Time to follow Tali's location ping." Wrex unbuckled his last two fragmentation grenades to throw behind him.

"That isn't going to cover our retreat."

"Who said they were grenades?" Wrex laughed before his ordnance detonated, leaving hails of fire and smoke to cloud the battlefield.

"**_Let's get the fuck out of here_**."

* * *

"I take it that Garrus and Wrex ran into some trouble?" The dull reverberations of a raging battle bled through the dirty walls of the Collector ship.

"Presumably so…" Liara answered as they continued their run toward an escape.

"They're sending their own signal spikes. We can regroup if we're lucky."

"And we can't contact them?"

"No. The Collector's have natural jamming deposits on this ship. Only large energy signatures can be detected by other Omni-tools." Tali shrugged as they kept moving through the spacious corridors.

"We aren't leaving until we find them."

"Couldn't agree more, John." Her toothy smile, although unseen, radiates nothing but a constant reminder that she_ has him back. _

Shepard stopped mid-stride and turned to regard the Quarian that neighbored him.

The other members of the crew kept hobbling forward, their eyes occasionally eyeing the pair before nodding off in approval.

"Tali…it's good to be back." He grabbed for her hand. "We'll cross this fire together."

"I wouldn't have it any other way…John." She squeezed tightly into his grip.

"For Kaiden." Shepard murmured slowly.

"For us." Tali's sweet whisper gave reason for Shepard to smile.

"For us." He repeated quietly.

_Time to go home._


	22. Clearing

Sorry I left you guys hanging for a couple days. Christmas and all. Wanted to let you guys pay attention to family and friends this week. Well, I'm back!

Have a happy new year guys. I'll post on the holidays this time. :)

I also have more music available on sound-cloud for listening pleasure! (Mass Effect Related music of course)

Enjoy! I'll post tomorrow just for the hell of it tomorrow too.

* * *

Krogan Adaptability: A…prevalent delineation for their rather…bloodless history.

But, as with any other organic race set upon the Milky Way, they had limits.

The Urdnot clan member stood warily against the bulked form of cover as he eyed the taxing weight of the weapon he held in his arms.

As much as he wanted to be…he _wasn't_ invincible.

But he was pretty damned close, and he hadn't earned the bronze muscle with complaining.

His scowl turned into a sly grin as he primed his focus back into his combative mediation.

"Garrus." The Krogan's bulk stooped from cover to expend his rifle's magazine.

"What?" The Turian's bipod was perched above his cover as he fired in bursts.

"Ready for the next dash?" The empty magazine fell from his gun, with it, the hiss and decompression of smoke that oozed from the barrel and sear.

"Yeah. Just give the go when you're ready." The exchange of gunfire passed for another thirty seconds.

A stale mate.

_Neither_ opposition could find a vantage point worth exposing.

"Okay…I'm ready."

The dinosaur's grip tightened on his explosive's primer. Before vaulting the grenade over cover, he noticed the rhetorical sounds of an unending battle quickly ceasing into unnerving silence.

"What the hell is going on, Garrus?"

An empty and threatening call answered for him.

**"You Fight The Indestructible." **

"That answer your question?!" The Turian removed his rifle before inserting a concussive cartridge.

"Save it, Garrus." His thick hand rose to stall him. "You'd be wasting it. The bastard can obviously _replicate_ itself."

"Point taken, Wrex!" They both, with unguided precision, retreat back into an alcove before slipping into the dirty walls of a chasm.

**"You Run From The Inevitable." **The Collector's deep voiced reverberation is punctuated with vicious blows of biotic energy that throw the Turian ahead of Wrex. Garrus tumbled clumsily along his back before forcibly stopping his halt with an outstretched arm.

The tolling weight taxed his bone to the breaking limit. The helpless appendage, warped under his invasive armor, _fractured_.

Garrus, unfazed by the sudden '_pop'_ that came from his limp arm, dropped his weapon before channeling his dragging momentum into a sprint.

"Garrus, Your rifle—"

"_Fuck the rifle_!"

They both turn sharply at the next bend before glancing back at their unrelenting pursuers.

Amidst the crowd of advancing soldiers, a single figure, swathed under the permeating colors of charred yellow and black, spoke to them.

**"Gaze Upon The Instruments Of Our Will." **The collector's impervious stride, drenched under the protracting congestion of manipulative energy, closed the distance between the two tired warriors.

"Wrex…"

"Way ahead of you, Turian." The Krogan's armored bulk reared back around the corner's chasm before leveling his heavy rifle at the sordid creatures.

"_Gaze_ upon the _instrument_ of _my_ **_will_****.**"

He pulled the trigger.

A hundred and thirty four fragmentation rounds hit home before he dropped the large drum toward the floor.

Wrex ended the violent exchange with a raging fist of dark energy that warped the collectors' bodied mass into a congealed mess of organic fluid.

"Strike two." He muttered dryly before eyeing the Turian. "The bastard's words ring hollow."

* * *

"Stay in cover!" The Commander's soldered yell was acknowledged by a few of those that huddled close to him.

The ascetic atmosphere, defiled with the protracting ambience of weapons fire, is replaced with meaty mechanical slivers; a sound of tightened muscle and diluted reassembly of meat and bone.

They were cries of agony.

_Husks_.

Their synthetic claws crawl through the dark contours of grime and dirt; their deluded moans of death screaming for blood.

Shocked members of the Normandy's crew, stare unbelievingly at the advancing number of turned humans.

Their firing line, repulsed by the licentious creatures, unleashed a volley of fire at the charging horde.

"What in **G****_od's_** name are husks doing on a collector ship?!" Ashley's alarming growl was punctuated by the large rock she threw.

"We'll have time to think of it when we escape, Williams!" Grieco's inherent remark was complimented by Liara's focus of biotic energy. The Asari unleashed the sapphire haze against the synthetic horde into a concentrated singularity.

The resulting effect gave even the Collector's pause to watch their cannon fodder fall to their pathetic purpose.

Tali capitalized on the distraction with her omni-tool, hoping with pleading eyes that Wrex and Garrus would soon reach them.

Her pale orbs widened when she saw a location ping emitting from the Krogan's omni-tool.

"John," She ignored the combative formality with a sturdy grasp on his deltoid. "Wrex and Garrus are on their way."

His brows furrow in acknowledgement before nodding briefly to the update. "Good. They're going to bring some company, then…" He eyed the dock with a heavy shade of desperation before wiping the filth that caked his face.

"Tali…you think we can get us a troop transport?" His dour expression turned to face her as he pointed the Collector ships behind him.

Her eyes squint with the smile she gave him. "Of course we can."

"Let's go then, I've got your back." His dirty hand gripped her digits tightly before nodding in approval. They both turn to see Marcus crawl over to their side of decaying cover.

"Same here, Sir." Grieco's frayed shirt dangled loosely around his body as he smiled with a low snarl. "I'm ready to get the hell off this rock, how 'bout you?"

Shepard perceptive scoff was quickly silenced as he peered over his shallow alcove of refuge.

"Come on, let's get to it." The Commander, after a heavy moment of hesitation, rolled from cover with Tali and Marcus close behind.

They continue their mad dash along the crude firing line of humans that held the Collector's at bay before reaching the ferrying vessel.

The elliptical landing pad they approached sunk into the uneven terrain that served as deck, with it a vessel large enough to transport the entire surviving crew off world.

If they were lucky…they could land back at Ground zero, gather what supplies they needed from the Normandy, and escape.

But Tali filed away the plan for a later time. The taxing rage of battle needed to be tackled first before a real plan could be set into motion.

The Quarian and Commander quickly run their hands along the ship's ugly armored finish, eyes darting to and fro, searching for an access point worth exploiting.

"Marcus. Get a turn around and see if you can't get inside the ship."

"Aye aye."

A string on unintelligible words slip from Shepard's mouth before he turned to Tali.

"Looks like we need to start off with a ZINCtech preface." Shepard muttered aloud before removing a piece of paneling off of the ship with a pair of pliers he held in his pocket.

"Way ahead of you Shepard…" Her Omni-tools haptic glow became receptive to her light touch.

"You say you had Garrus commandeer a ship? How'd he do it?" He began to fidget with ship's hampered wiring.

"Not a clue. Looks like we're going to have to wing it." She spoke up loud enough for Shepard to hear her over the ugly chorus of weapon fire.

"You speak my language, Hun." His toothy smile was covered by the arms that dig into the drop-ship's wiring.

She visibly paused at the terminology before her cheeks flush into deep and heavy shade of red. "Hun?"

His gaze fell upon the Quarian's widening eyes before winking. "Come on." A small tilting reiteration from his head pointed toward the ship. "Let's capture this first. We'll have more time to talk later. I promise."

"I'm going to hold you to it…_Vaul'shemai." _

His lips splice into a handsome smirk as he continued his deft work.


	23. Commandeer

A/N: I'm giving you guys nearly 3,000 words in this chapter. (This story is almost over, folks. But don't worry! it's sequel will be slapped on to this current one right afterward.)

Songs: Currently in the progress of making a song themed after METSA. Sounds beautiful and intense. You guys'll like it.

you guys have a happy new year!

Enjoy!

* * *

"This isn't something we can keep up, Wrex!" The two had long since abandoned their rifles, having either lost, or used all of their ammo.

"I'm working on it, Turian. Keep your head down as we find a way to get out of this."

Despite the mangled arm Garrus was inconvenienced with, his hand stood steady with his side-arm and fired with disturbing precision.

"Just realized I still have some concussive grenades left. I'm chucking them!"

"And you _couldn't_ have done that earlier?" The Turian's maw dropped into a grating frown.

The Krogan's blood red eyes glower into a slight scowl. "Sorry, Garrus. I didn't want to end the fun too quickly." The explosives follow soon after the satirical quip.

The loud rumbles gave them the needed time to continue their quickly deteriorating rendezvous . They stepped off quickly from the steep alcove to continue their hobbled and flaccid sprint.

"That voice, Wrex…does it remind you of anything in particular?" The Turian's voice, tinged under the burning pain from his broken arm, growled between the sucks of breath that taxed his lungs.

"It reminds me of Sovereign."

"…and Saren."

"And if we've learned anything, we'll kill it like the last."

* * *

"What's our condition, Liara?" The placid static that met the Quarian's ears answered for her.

"Shepard." Tali, scrounged between the tangles of wire that inundated the ship's internals, turned to face the Commander's sweaty struggle. "Liara isn't answering over the COM."

The mangled fistfuls of cabling tighten in Shepard's hands as he ingested the information. He nodded once before turning to Marcus with a trimmed brow. "Marcus. Cover for me." His piercing stare is leveled to Tali's focused gaze. "I'll be right back. Without Liara's biotics, this fight is going to end quickly." His ears pick up the rifled and ugly chorus of battle with a heavy sigh before finding his footing to pry himself back above the warzone.

His ragged breath is accompanied by the ambient calls of screaming men and women. He continued his low crawl with a pained exhale until he could finally pick out the detail of a blue fringe sitting behind the company of rubble.

"Liara…?"

Her complexion, marred with sweat and grime, turns to Shepard with a pained and detached expression.

"Liara, I'm getting you out of here. You have to…" His pallid stare dips to fixate on the large piece of shrapnel embedded near her abdomen. Her azure blood bubbled out of congested wound, her hands trembling under the shock that deluded her clouded mind.

"I'll be fine as long…as I get some…" Her head fell to the side as she grit her teeth. "help…"

"Don't worry…Chakwas will look at you once we all get out of here…Stay here. The others need you."

"I will." Her eyes hardened as with the grip she held on her sub compact rifle.

Shepard rose from cover before yelling to the firing line.

"Stacker! Ash!" His voice tried to scream over the war's nauseatingly loud decibels.

"Commander!" A harsh voice spoke above the skirmish. Shepard replied to the man's familiar voice.

"Where the hell is Ash?!"

There was a momentary pause before Stacker spoke again.

"She's at the far end of the firing line! She's coordinating the other men!

"Good!" Shepard's hands neighbor his mouth to amplify the direction of his voice. "We're getting out of here! We're stealing their drop-ship!"

"Copy, Commander! We'll hold until you give us the green!" Both the men lock eyes before Shepard fell back to the Asari.

"Hold tight, Liara. Garrus will be back soon. I promise."

"He better…"

A pensive murmur fell from the Commander's lips as he placed an assuring hand on her shoulder. "I'll be back to get you in the gun-ship when we're ready."

She nodded with a low grumble before waving him off.

"Go, Shepard. I'll wait."

The Commander, affirmed by the Asari's acknowledgment, trudged in a low crawl at a labored pace before rolling back down into the landing pad.

"Liara's injured …"

"How bad?" Tali's dashed hands never peel away from the panel she was working with.

"Pretty bad…" John replied with an exhale before yelling to Grieco. "Marcus? Where are you?"

"In here, Commander!" The man waved to him through the ship's windshield.

"The living hell, Marcus?"

"He's helping me get the electronic logistics down…this ships diagnostics are a nightmare to understand."

"Maybe all you need is a little help, hun." He fell to his knees before resuming his work. The Spectre barely had time to touch the internals.

The engines suddenly started, with it, the brilliant hiss of compressed jets, and the cry of moving parts.

"We…we did it! We got it!" Tali's exclamation was short lived as an explosion's dusty remnants rang throughout the docking bay. The blackened smoke ingested the atmosphere's life giving air with a concentration strong enough to give both Shepard and Tali time to momentarily survey the deteriorating battlefield.

Tali's digits grip John's deltoid tightly for his attention. "We're out of time, John. The crew needs to get on, and we need to get out of here."

He nodded once before yelling over the alcove.

"We're in the clear! Let's move people! Let's _MOVE_!" The rifle Grieco had left behind was now held in Shepard's arms.

Finally.

A damned gun.

"Stacker! Ash! Give the order to fall back!" He turned to the Quarian with a hardened eye.

"Get in the ship, Tali. I've got to get Liara and find wounded. I'll be right back."

She embraced him tightly before slipping a shield battery into his hand. "You're going to need this if you're running around out in the open."

"Thank you, hun." He ended the exchange with a curt nod before climbing the wall back toward the Asari.

The firing line had slowly withdrew, their steady retreat gravitating toward their escape from damnation.

Still, the Commander flew forward, passed Jeff…passed Chakwas and Presley, toward the small recess Liara claimed for cover.

His arms, taxed under the light weight of the Collector rifle in his hands, trembled as he fired fifty invective notes toward his enemy.

Dropping the spent rifle, his hands swiftly grab for her wrists before hoisting her over his back.

He'd be more tactful…considering the injury she endured, but they were _out_ of time…

"Hold on, Liara..." The Commander's words are interposed by the sudden sickening release of weaponized ionic beams that protruded from their commandeered ship.

The resulting blast nearly singed the ragged and filthy clothing he wore, but he paid it no mind. He had an unconscious Asari over his shoulder, along with a Krogan and Turian wandering around the Collector flag ship…

Stacker, followed by Heathers, helped the Commander with his load before hoisting Liara into the ship.

Another explosion erupted along the splintered and battle worn walls. The hideous aftershocks jostle the vicious atmosphere before crushing a rocky incline that served as a wall.

Smoky filth, sticky with the heavy scents of mud and humid vapor, spread its blackened fingers across the bay's darkened air. Through the murky haze that infected the cloudy ambience, a Turian and Krogan barrel through with failing arms.

"We're coming!" Wrex bellowed through heaves of breath as he continued his energy guzzling sprint. Shortly behind the armored dinosaur, Garrus, through a tightened gasp, screamed to the Commander. "We're almost there!"

Another crackle of ionic power was released from their commandeered ship. The trail of destruction that resulted around the miasma of weaponized yellow brutally warped the frail flesh of Collector skin into a hazy and charbroiled pulp.

It mattered little to Tali as she pulled the trigger again to release another fixed cascade of firepower toward the Collector force.

A residual firing line bordered the ship's landing pad, all of whom were contributing to the suppressive, fired their tirade of afflicting staccatos before looking briefly at the two wailing men.

"Cover them!" A marine had bellowed over the hail of overwhelming gunfire.

"Wrex, just a little longer—" The Turian is interrupted by the shriek of a woman lying helpless on the soiled ground.

"**_Help_**! _ME_!" A choked scream bubbled from the injured human. The Krogan slid into a halt before ducking into a crevice of cover with the Turian.

"We're getting you out of here, Human. Keep your lip shut...this is going to hurt; and you'll thank me later." The Urdnot clan member's mighty and beasty arm lunged for the woman's ruffled shirt before hoisting her over his hump.

The Human's glossy eyes tear at the pain from her shattered ankle.

"Hold on to my crown, Human."

She nodded quickly before grabbing the contours of his scarred head.

"Come on, Garrus. Let's move." The Turian and Krogan's taxed legs thrust their heavy bodies once more into the protracting fray, hoping their ascertained salvation would soon take them away from the Collector's unholy hell.

Their armored boots slip against the dry soot, titanium and rubber silicon soles forcefully catching ground against the disgusting soil that littered the docking floor.

An Ionic pulse, laced invasively with deafening crackles of electricity, reverberated above them to kill their abominated pursuers.

_Tali's aim with the Collector ship's gun was a little __**too**__ good. _

"Start the evacuation, Ash. You, Stacker, and I will be the last to board."

"Aye, Shepard." The woman's casual salute berated the hellish irony. She called out to relieve the burdened crew to board the Collector ship.

"Fall back! We're getting out of _here_! Move! _Move_! **_Now_**! _GO_ _Goddammit_!"

The crew's perimeter withered into a barred circle before entering the immense aircraft.

The ship's thrusters gyrate the vessel's ill-shaped nozzle toward the evening sky.

Tali's cursory glance turned into a lustrous stare at the sun's milky hue; a welcoming miasma of fiery arms she wished she could embrace with her tired digits.

The sudden release of fear was nearly palpable to Tali's apprehensive heart.

"They're turning the ship around! We need to run faster!"

"I know, Turian. Hold onto your gizzard."

The Quarian's nimble hands carefully ignite the engine's thrusters to a sub-optimal velocity while edging the joystick forward. A sustaining purr of activating rheostats balanced the colossal bulk into a prudently guided pace toward their closing moment of escape.

With the last of the crew aboard, Shepard, followed by his two remaining allies, jump into the ship before waiving toward the Turian and Krogan.

"Come _ON_! Let's **_GO_**!"

The Krogan's powerful appendages, perturbed under the taxing weight of the days fight, armor, and recently acquired human, pushed forward with the last of his energy before dipping down into the landing pad's welcoming floor. Garrus quickly followed suit with a pained gasp of air before continuing their awkward sprint.

Wrex quickly caught up to the moving ship with giant heaves of breath before grasping the Human's torso.

"What's your name?!" Wrex's voice berated between the hash inhales of breath.

"P-_Palermo_!"

"I'm throwing you Palermo. Hold _tight_." A lush smile spliced the Urdnot member's lips.

"Wha—no…no! NonononoNoNo**_N_**_O__**N**__O__**NO**_!"

He threw the dainty body he held toward the craft's steel floor. The woman's pained scream fell silent when she was clutched by the familiar grip of human hands.

The Krogan heaved himself into the immense aircraft before grabbing the Turian's damaged collar.

"Jump you _goddam_ idiot!"

Garrus' dry remark went unheeded. The Turian was hoisted from his feet before being placed on the cool deck.

"That's…one hell of a way to do things…" The Ex officer's denigrated growl of pain subsided when the howling wind of battle was shut by the cabin's armored door.

"Tali! Get us the _hell_ out of here."

"Never thought you'd ask, Wrex." Her grip tightened on the joy-sticks polymer handle before quickly thrusting the jets to maximum throttle.

"You better hold on!" Pressly yelled feverishly over the sudden whine of the engines.

"To what?!"

"Anything, _Moreau_!" the small congregation of the Normandy's crew huddled toward the floor before grasping each other for bracing support.

The low and deep hum that filtered through the ship's armored chassis was rudely interspersed by the Collector's small caliber fire. Ultimately, the uncanny and obnoxious sound ceased, leaving the dull hum of an engine to reverberate along the small vessel's hull.

Amidst it all, Garrus could only see the Asari lying on the ground with Chakwas close by murmuring words he didn't bother trying to hear.

Liara was _hurt_…bad.

"Give me a headcount!" The Commander's weary voice spoke above the cabin's unnerving ambience.

"We've lost six more, Commander." Pressly affirmed with a tightened sigh.

"I want their names."

The XO's hard-edged brows glower at Shepard's wish for lost revenue.

The crew inadvertently displaced their eyes to the bland contours of the darkened cabin as Pressly relayed the names of lost men and woman.

"Pakti…Dubyansky…Rahman…Felawa…" He paused visibly before continuing. "Negulesco…" His cold swallow only intensified the still air. "_Tanaka_…"

The underwhelming hum of compressed jet's paled in comparison to the dry and stale air.

Everyone's lips were tightly sealed against the unyielding charade of wandering stares.

"What…what do we do, Shepard?" Heather's words dripped fruitlessly from her lips as they all look to the Commander.

An outward mirror of Shepard's morality dangled loosely from his weary eyes as he spoke.

"This ship…it's worthy of space flight….we go back to the Normandy…get the supplies we need…and get the hell out of here." He lowered next to the Turian before staring at Liara's grating expression.

"How far away are we from the Normandy, Garrus?"

"30 clicks South, South-east. Tali's already flying us there." The Turian's voice is cavernous and incomprehensibly low.

"Liara will make it, Garrus."

"Will she?" His plated brows trim his lids before looking to the Spectre.

"Yes. If she's got half the heart you do, she will." A subtle grasp of the Turian's limp arm forced Shepard to examine the appendage.

"Is it broken?"

"Yeah." Garrus answered dryly before looking back to Liara. "Yeah…It is."

John rose from the injured pair before approaching the helm.

"Tali…"

The dainty Quarian turned to face him before speaking quietly.

"Hey…how is the crew reacting?"

His shoulder leaned against the titanium partition before croaking indignantly. "Their reaction is settling. And it is for me too."

"We'll make it, Commander." Joker's head, tattered and spotted with filth, turned to the commander before wiping the sweat that built behind his brow. "I just…feel it."

"Good. We could use a little optimism right now." Shepard's bleak murmur of words betrayed the weak smile that left his uneasy lips. The Flight Lieutenant removed himself from the co-pilot seat before standing to give the man a rough pat on the shoulder.

"You've been through _worse_…Sir."

Shepard averted his eyes from the pilot's reassuring stare. "Yeah…"

Jeff's pursed lips quietly eased his dry exhale of breath before settling back into the rough chair. "Don't worry, Shepard."

Tali's eyes peeled away from the windshield before briefly looking to John. His behavior, obfuscated under the recent and violent events that occurred within the hour, was something Tali could completely understand. The heavy burden of leadership was taxing Shepard's wellbeing to the limit…

And when she turned around, back to face the dirty composite that served as windshield, she felt, only for a moment, how unfair it all was.

She was whiffed away from the unproductive train of thought when a sturdy five fingered hand pressed against her shoulder.

She saw the man she loved smiling back before affirming his steady grasp with a tight and warming squeeze.

It was unfair…but they would cope.

_Together_.

"How long until we get back, Tali?"

"Ten minutes…nothing more."

"Good. When we land, we're going to split into two teams. Team blue and red. Blue team is to gather weapons, ammunition, and armor. Red team is going to head straight for our food reserves and medical supplies. When we do reach ground zero, we'll have five minutes to get everything we need."

"Go ahead and tell the crew, John." Her sultry tone gave reason for Shepard to lightly touch her back as he smiled.

"Okay…I will." He removed himself from the helm before closing the small divider behind him.

The crew, for the most part, had remained glued to their makeshift seats while occasionally murmuring a slur of words that never reached Shepard's ears.

"Listen up people." Shepard's adamant tone was absent as his arms creased along his chest.

"This half is blue team." He divided the group by gesticulating the room around him. "Blue team is to get weapons, armor, and ammo." His open palm fixated on the last remaining half of people.

"You're team red. When we land, gather our remaining food supplies and medical equipment. Chakwas is to accompany those who need to get medicine. Questions?"

Several glances were shared before they all nodded in acknowledgement.

"Good. Get ready. We're ten minutes out from the Normandy's crash site..." His gaze faltered as he swallowed his own voiced orders. "Prepare."


	24. MANPADS

Finally have a song out that's themed for MET:SA. :) It's on sound-cloud! It's titled: Two Year Struggle.

I'll let you guys be the judge of how good it is.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Let's move, people! Let's go! The faster we're done, the better!" A forceful reiteration of Shepard's hand encouraged the battered crew. The recognizable shape of their long destroyed frigate, left untouched since their unexpected departure, lay warily against the dry soot of earth. The forty-two remaining men and women of the SSV Normandy ran to gather the needed supplies, hoping desperately this nightmare would soon come to an end.

Many of the crew had withheld against the mad dash by quickly changing into new pairs of fatigues (Outside due to the stress of time) while carrying their quickly skimmed equipment to the Collector ship.

Shepard himself occupied his withered time by entering his room to replace his filthy clothing with a new pair of fatigues.

He sanitized his body quickly with a wet towel before hoisting his ballistic rig over his shoulders.

"John." Tali quickly entered the Commander's room before placing the heavy box she held on his table.

"How long have we been here?" He questioned before looking to her tinted glass.

"Over five minutes." She answered timidly before walking toward him. "Let me help you." Her fingers, outstretched to grasp the familiar shape of his forearm cuff, shackle the hardened plates around his covered wrists.

"And no sight of any Collector retaliation?" He pondered questioningly for a moment as she reached for his shoulder padding.

"No." His reinforced gauntlets are idly placed over her palm to help settle the armor.

"Then they're waiting. We need to hurry." She lowered to a knee to connect the ballistic plated grieves on his thigh and calf.

"They know, they're going as fast as possible."

"Good…and thank you, Hun."

A rife smile had cracked along her lips as she rose back to her tired feet.

"No problem…_John_?" Her palsied hands slowly grip the container's worn handles.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" His attention was suddenly lost in her mesmerizing stare.

"For everything…" Her grip loosened on the small crate. "To think…it all started by flying through those…_damned_ meteors."

His lips are pressed into a light frown as he approached her. Slipping his fingers across Tali's, he removed the box she held in her hands. "Come here…"

His strong and welcoming arms affectionately wrap around her chest for a heartfelt embrace.

"_This is not_ your fault…how many times am I going to have to tell you, Tali?"

"Until we get out of this terrible mess …" Her limber arms tighten around his armored collar.

"We will…" They reluctantly separate from the touching embrace. "Come on. We need to move. What's in the box?"

"Thermal bandoliers. Some Tech. New shotgun."

"Good." He gave her deltoid a tight squeeze. "Let's go. We need to get moving."

The pair quietly walk out from his deserted room to find many of the crew occupying their time with ransacking Chakwas' medical supplies. Amidst the populated cabin, the Doctor stood herself, her hands pointing to miscellaneous equipment with outstretched and animated fingers.

Tali quietly followed her Captain through the Normandy's interior back out into the open expanse of land.

The remaining half of the Normandy's crew, dawned now with their respective armor and TA-50 gear, moved deftly through the open crates, scavenging for items needed for their long travel.

"Let's move! Grab what you can and board the ship!" The Commander placed a fist high into the air before pointing toward their flight worthy vessel.

"Stacker!"

"Sir!" The Sergeant approached with several weapons around his arms.

"Get the others from inside. We're moving in two."

"Yes, Commander!"

Shepard's wary palm heaved himself into the vessels cabin before offering the Quarian his hand. "Where's Garrus and Liara?"

"Down in the med-bay." She took his gloved hand before hefting her weight into the ferrying vessel. "Chakwas' team is keeping Liara stable."

"Good." His head reclined along the cargo door for a long moment before helping Marcus with an ammo crate.

"How's our new ship looking, Grieco?"

"Good, sir. The others are mobilizing. We'll be out of here in less than two minutes."

The Commander had leaned on a crate before peering through the glassy composite to gaze at the cloudless sky. His passive complexion quickly soured into an expression of unadulterated horror.

"_Let's make that now_…We need to make that **_NOW_**!" Shepard's panic stricken hands grab for Tali's shoulder before pushing her off the ship. "Get the hell out! _Out_!"

Marcus quickly followed behind the Quarian before diving into an uninhibited fox hole.

Their oiled window of rescue and redemption erupted into a colossal growth of fire and smoke, which, consequentially, followed with a 10 metered blast of warped igneous shrapnel.

_The Collector's found them. _

"Tali…You okay?" His fingers stretch across her appendages to check for breaches.

"I'm fine." She coughed vigorously before looking toward the sky. "What the hell just…_happened_?" Her palms grit the humid sand as she tried to clear the wave of nausea from her stomach. "Oh Keelah…Oh Keelah!" Tali's two digits trace the sky before screaming. "They're Colle—! Shepard! We have to!…we have—!"

"_On it, hun_. Marcus." John's armored finger jabbed desperately into the man's chest. "Keep. Tali. _Here._" Before Grieco could even reply to the harsh order, the Commander threw himself from their orthodox choice of cover before hauling his booted feet toward a crate that read simply:

**O.T.S-AA:SAM || **

**AIIN:98204674**

**ASN:6920-98-204-9674 **

**[M.A.N.P.A.D.S.] THIRTEEN UNITS.**

His bleak stare is accompanied by the faltering movements of his trembling hands, hoping that his outward struggle would lift the heavy lid from the large container.

His scowling expression softened when he finally gripped the metal grooves of his desired weapon.

"_Holy_ _shit_! They're making another pass! _They're making another pass_!" Several marines now accompanied the commander with deadly armaments of their own.

_Surface-to-Air, Fire and Forget, 'stinger' missiles._

"_Fuck_ protocol! We fire in tandem! Left to right!" The Commander fell into a kneel before aligning his reticle toward the tightly packed parade of attacking aircraft.

"Clear the back-blast!" A loosely packed firing line spread across the chaotic engagement of cover.

"Fan out!"

"They're strafing! Factor the distance! Keep your head cool!"

The remaining eight hand-held SAM's level their muzzles toward the advancing trio.

"Fire! FIRE! _FIRE_!"

Eight fingers tighten around their respective triggers.

Eight missiles, in sequential order, release their twenty pound payloads.

The resulting explosions quickly cycle vibrant vibrations through the thick atmosphere with an order of magnitude so powerful, it gave everyone reason to squeeze their eyes shut from the pounding reverberations along the earth's parched crust.

_-overkill-_

Molten spheres of singed metal fly over the Normandy before exploding into a haze of exciting lights.

There were no consoling cheers of compulsory retaliation. The crews' haunted eyes, agape with an empty stare, turned to see that their last remaining seed of hope, their only pliable way of escape, was set ablaze in a hail of smoke and fire.

The dangled shreds and remnants of hope that the crew carried in their tired hearts was _utterly_ extinguished.

Their fate was _sealed_ _here_.

The parched and infused air, abruptly drowned under an unforeseen torrent of polluted decibels, forced their stares toward a frightening sound of deafening crackles.

They were the sounds of super-sonic booms from screaming fighters.

"Back into the Normandy, everyone!" The Spectre threw his arm before pointing at the Normandy's entrance. "Back into the…_Nor..mandy_…" The Commander's labored pace stopped mid-stride before looking at the oddly familiar flight pattern of navy barred aircraft.

The seven closely knit interceptor craft spread across the sky before circling around The Normandy's corpse.

"_It's…It's the Alliance_!" Stacker praised loudly with open arms before dropping his spent missile launcher. "It's the good ol' god damned Alliance!" The bearded man threw a fist high into the air before turning toward the Commander. "Sir! It's the god damn _Alliance_!"

Shepard's reply and smile was almost palpable when he carefully placed the AA weapon he held along the ground. "Damn right it is, Sergeant. Come on. We'll have time to celebrate later when we've passed through the damned relay."

"Fair enough, Commander, I'll get the others rallied and wait for their pick-up."

"Do it. The relief parties should be here soon." He casually strode off toward his Quarian with a tight smile puckered across his lips.

The dirtied ribbon of hope returned…This nightmare was going to end. And when this is all over…Shepard would make things _right_.

"Tali…"

"I just saw!" She hurriedly removed herself from the ill-fitting crevice to embrace the Spectre. "They came…I just…_Keelah_, their timing couldn't have been better, John." Her strong arms, pained and weary from the tolling and nearly disastrous heat of constant battle, tense around Shepard's neck. "How long do you think it'll be before they get us out of here?"

"Minutes at most…the search party should already be relaying our location."

"Good. I'm ready to leave this place."

"So am I."


	25. Task force

**Went snowboarding. Awesome as hell, learned it quickly, but now I feel like death. :P**

**Enjoy the chapter! Reviews are helpful!**

* * *

**"Impotence. Intolerable. You Have ****_Failed_**** Us."** The supreme voice thundered violently across the hollowed bay.

The populated mass of Collector bodies stood silently to await their new orders.

**"Activate the ****_Hashvesks_****. Test the Planet's ****_Dark Matter Malleability_****. Time. Runs. ****_Short_****."**

"_We will_." Hundreds of voices echoed across the dimly lit expanse of open space.

**"Our Coming Arrival Will Prove Whether Our Investment In You Will Be Merited." **Harbinger's overbearing bulk, synthesized by the hologram that hovered above them, disappeared.

* * *

"Nimble-4 Actual to Gamble of Light, over."

"This is Gamble of Light, we read you 4-actual, what do you need?"

"We're in route. Two minutes until rescue relief arrives. Our ETA is ten minutes, Over."

"Copy, Nimble-4. _Break_." A momentary pause in COM traffic. "We are requesting reinforcements to the rest of the Columbian 3rd task force. Be advised, 4 actual. Our fighters are having a tough time occupying the enemy's attention. Their flag-ship is converging on your north bound vector. I would advise you exercise urgency in this evac-op, over."

"Roger, _Gamble of light_. Out." The pilot's forehead is suddenly lined with worry when his grip tensed around the ship's robust controls.

"Eigh! Get prepped, we've got to make this quick." For good measure, the man assured his order with a stiff stare to his relief squad.

"Okay, we're ready."

"I see the crash site now…" The mountainous features that dot the tundra finally peel away to reveal the Normandy's torturous grave. "…Christ…" His alert eyes absorb the spitting plumes of smoke from four (destroyed) oversized gun-ships. "Okay, I'm finding an LZ. Sit tight.

"_Gamble of Light_ to Nimble-4 Actual, over."

"This is 4 actual, Over."

"We received a green for reinforcing, but, you're not going to like this, Break." The transceiver's reverb of abrasive white noise overtakes the pilot's sensitive ear. "3rd Fleet is an hour out from the relay. Over."

"Solid Copy, Gamble of Light. That is bad news. What's your recommendation? Over." The helmsman continued to speak as he engaged the Ship's abundant number of regulators to make his final approach.

"Prosper of Freedom will continue its Gyro-synchronous orbit. We'll be standing by until you come back with the package. Over."

"Copy, Gamble of Light. Wish me luck, Over."

"Roger, 4 actual. Out."

The ship's extended feet touched the hard surface of stone before opening its doors. Seconds after revealing the cabin, a man, emblazed with the honorary symbol of N7, stepped through the ship's encumbering. His flank had neighbored a small and petite sized Quarian.

"What outfit you running with, Flight Lietenant?"

"Sir. Flight Lieutenant Gonzalez, 3rdColumbian fleet, Task force Charlie-1, sir."

"The Alliance had a _whole_ fleet looking for us?" The Quarian's posture tensed at Gonzalez's mention.

"Negative, ma'am. Only three task forces. We're lucky we found you, sir."

"Indeed you are, Lieutenant." A tired smile, one born from total exhaustion, is plastered along the Commander's gritty expression.

"I was also made aware to exercise urgency in this evac, sir. Brass tells me a whole damned _Collector_(?) flagship is heading toward this direction."

John sweaty brow is wiped clean from his gloved hand before turning to Tali.

"The Brass is right, Lieutenant. It's the Collector's…that means we only have minutes at best." Shepard's open palm covered his mouth for an intermittent moment." Shepard turned to his Sergeant. "Stacker: have everyone outside _now_. Prioritize the casualties. They'll be the first to board."

"Aye, sir."

"Is Liara still with Garrus?" Tali questioned quietly before turning to the Spectre.

"Not sure. Think Wrex could be with them?" His rhetoric was met with a small shrug.

"I don't know…It'd make sense..." The sensible answer allowed Shepard to nod before turning off the large tiled platform.

A dozen or so stretchers, occupied by the casualties suffered from Collector occupation, now lined against the ship's starboard.

"Bring them in." The Commander passed by Garrus and Ash before motioning the injured inside.

"Where's Wrex?" Shepard's armored glove was placed upon the Turian's forearm.

"He was right behind me. Think he's with Grieco, now."

John affirmed his reply with a quick nod.

"Let's go people, we should have left already! Let's _move_!" Stacker's sudden rebuke had encouraged the crew to rush their boarding of wounded men and women.

Then the ground started _shaking_.

At first, Tali had considered the tremors to be an imagination conjured by the insistent nervousness that drenched her anxiety ridden chest.

Then the sudden elliptical waves of shaking earth were too hard to discount. These violent vibrations were definitely not in her head. "Shepard! Earthquake!"

"I noticed, Tali!" The Commander had to find stable footing before placing the last of the stretchers aboard.

"Get on, everyone! Let's move! Let's go!" The man lightly grasped Tali's open palm before helping her into the ship's welcoming space.

Ash and Garrus carried Liara's stretcher lightly into the cargo hold before ushering other crew members aboard.

The quakes grew more ferocious. Lusterless rocks that dot the landscape begin rolling from their once static earthy dentations.

"If you don't get on now, we aren't going to make it!"

Marcus and Wrex, forcefully fledged into an inept sprint, throw their frames into their rescuing flame of their marveled salvation before turning to see if anyone else had needed to climb aboard. Seeing no one, the doors closed, leaving the dull throbbing hum of the engines to reignite their thruster power.

"Head count!"

"Sound off!" Pressly's voice resonated along the large cabin. Tali observed with her peripherals, watching closely as the crew's team leaders searched for their group before reporting back to John's gruff XO.

"Casualty numbers remain the same. We lost no one in this evac, Commander."

"Good. Flight Lieutenant…" Shepard called with a holler. "I want a visual on Ullipses. Port side."

"Aye, Sir."

Those closest to the glowing haptic screen level their tired eyes at the deteriorating land. The Normandy, left behind by its company of Alliance men and woman, drowned under the pitfalls of falling rock of a nearby mountain. Molten magma ruptured through the cracks crust until swallowing the last remaining remnants of their old ship whole.

_The Normandy was, in its entirety, gone. _

Their abysmal stares, numerical in order, continue to stare at their burning home.

"I don't…I don't understand…" Tali's languid whisper is closely accompanied by her quivering lip. "I don't…this doesn't…"

A soft hand affectionately touched her sore shoulders.

"I don't know, Tali. I suppose...the important thing is that we didn't suffer the same fate as our Home." Shepard's eyes continue to bore into the screen's display of pooling lava.

His frown intensified when the red liquefied rock, propelled by the intense pressure of tectonic deterioration, flew higher into the air.

But Shepard paid the distressing scene no mind. He had lost people. _Good_people. People with families, wives, husbands…children…

Out of the original sixty-seven aboard the Normandy, forty-two had escaped. Two sixths of his people, loyal men and woman, died for _absolutely_ nothing.

Some perished in the Normandy's harsh orbital descent…

Others were killed from the Collector's first and terrifying attack…

And the rest were murdered cruelly from their escape of doom.

The guilt was too much for the man's pained shoulders.

'…_God damnit…' _His hands, outstretched like ruffled feathers, smother his face in protracting guilt_. 'How the hell did this happen_?'

Finally, the man's head fell into Tali's shoulder and wept soundlessly.

To the others, it looked as if Shepard were simply hung over the coupled exhaustion. But Tali could feel the feint trembles in his chest. And as Shepard's stoicism finally broke under the duress of losing many of his crew, Tali's own tears were formed into quiet fruition.

Shepard was a man burdened with the perpetual price of forfeiture and detriment to violent conflict. And now John's façade broke; fractured and shattered into the Quarian's neck and shoulder.

"John…" She whispered silently into his ear. "…we'll get through this. Together."

The breathless heaving finally wavered and he removed himself from the woman before giving a frail smile. "Thank you…Tali…I'm glad to know we will..." His frail and nearly inaudible murmur allowed the young woman to smile weakly.

"Two minutes out from dock." The pilot exclaimed merrily before looking to the Asari.

"She'll be fine; Garrus…stop worrying so much." Ash's worried brows betray her ill-acquired sarcasm.

"I know." Garrus turned to the helmsman with sturdy nod while grasping Liara's hand tightly. "This damned nightmare needs to end, Ash. For all of us."

"Yeah…" She remarked with muttered breath. "It does."


	26. Loose Grip

A/N: When I'm done with this, I'll have to decide if I'm going to carry through with this story on MEDTVOL or just continue on current METSA. We'll see!

-Enjoy!

* * *

"Gamble of Light to Nimble-4 Actual, prioritize this message, over."

"Copy, Gamble of Light, this is 4-Actual. What is it? Over."

"We have two messages, break…our fighters withdrew their attack. The Collector flag-ship is intercepting our immediate position. We have an eight minute window, over."

"Copy, Gamble of Light. What's the second thing? Over."

"We're receiving seismic activity at…over 12 points? Can we have a visual confirmation on this? Over."

"Roger. Sending recorded streamline." The pilot collected his thoughts for a short moment. "Do you guys have any idea what's going on?"

"That's a negative, 4 Actual. This seismic event is leveling across the _entire_ planet." There was a crackle of splicing static. "Seismograph scale is continuing its scan. The Planet…seems to be…collapsing. Over."

"Excuse me, Gamble of light? Say again, over."

"Repeat, the planet's crust is deteriorating in its entirety, over."

"How?" The helmsman omitted the radio formality.

"Don't know, Gonzalez. Hurry up, brass wants you up here…They're hoping the Normandy will have some answers."

"Okay, Cameron…" The radio propriety returned. "Starting final approach, Gamble of Light. Relaying vector alignment. Over."

"Copy, Nimble-4. What's the status of the Normandy's crew? Over."

"Wounded. We're going to need Medevac ASAP when we pass the Relay, over."

"Copy, 4 Actual. We'll have our local EMS teams standing by. Out."

The Pilot guided his vessel quietly into the Carrier's landing bay before relieving himself of powered control. A large clamp commandeered the ship's exterior restraints.

"What did the brass say, Gonzalez?" John had placed a forearm over his head rest.

"The planet's falling apart, and the Collectors are getting ready to chase us…_sir_."

"Falling apart?" His murmur was shrouded with the sudden thought of showering meteors liquidating through the ground.

"Do _you_ have any idea why, Commander?" By now, the tired Quarian stood next to John while the others had quickly filed out into the docking bay.

"Maybe, Lieutenant. We'll debrief when we get out of this damned hell hole."

"Yes sir." Gonzalez removed himself from the helm before stepping off onto the ship's deck.

Tali observed the leaving pilot before anxiously closing the helm door behind them.

When the door's lock fell, so did the ambience of the docking bay. She gave herself a moment to collect her thoughts before speaking to the only other soul before her.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better, now that you're here…with me." He reached for her hand before placing an open palm above hers.

"Good…What do we do from here, John?"

"First we get outta here…then we look into finding a new ship…and then we stop the Reapers…"

"…and I want to be with you when you do."

He visibly paused before looking to her. "But your pilgrimage gift—"

"Can be dropped off." Her fingers tensed along his. "I want to be with _you_, John. This choice isn't off some _whim_. You've opened my eyes to so much more…and…I need to share that with you…" Her loving stare fell to her feet. "I've _done_ my duty to my people. I owe them _nothing_. And after all this…"

His eyes crinkle with the smile that crawled along his face.

"They owe you everything, Tali."

"No, they owe _us _everything, John." She pulled in for an embrace before whispering a sultry note into his ear. "I think this is the part where we _kiss_."

A genuine chuckle fell from his lips before squeezing her slender frame tighter. "We'll save that for the after party."

"Promise?"

"Yes. _I promise."_

"I'm going to hold you to it, my _Vaul'shemai_."

Shepard's vibrant stare is held for an extended period of time before placing both of his closed fists around her hands.

"Good. Let's go, hun."

They left the sanctioned room before stepping onto the deck's sectioned plating.

"_Dr. Ulrich, prepare for triage_." An intercom's resonating speaker spoke across the deck.

Tali's glowered frown watched Wrex and Garrus carry Liara's stretcher to the elevator. Her limber hands press against each other questioningly as she continued to follow John into the lift.

"Where are we going?"

His stare quietly gazed along the rows of wounded before closing the elevator door. "CIC deck. See what's going on."

Tali's fixed glare hardened when she eyed desperate crimson colored hands reaching out to gently touch those tending to their life threatening injuries.

The permeated silence in the elevator was deafening to her delicate ear. Only the occasional groan of acrid pain managed to disrupt the acidic muteness.

Amongst the pain, she watched closely as Shepard's rigid jaw flexed at the untouched site of his wounded crew. She could tell through his working eyes that he was already reflecting upon his responsibility of those that lay helpless on the floor.

A firm grasp of his shoulder, followed by a slight ease of pressure, allowed Shepard to stare at the smaller Quarian adjacent to him.

She gave him a single and pronounced nod while serrating her stare with understanding eyes.

Her unspoken articulation answered for him.

_'This isn't your fault.' She motioned with another tensed squeeze. _

His passive and gaping stare fell to the floor before looking upon Liara's natural comatose.

She finally separated the heartfelt connection by placing her stiff palm against her side.

_'It's nobodies.'_

The lift's Alliance embroidered gates opened and allowed the medical team to evacuate the wounded to the Med-Bay. The doors closed on its two remaining passengers before initiating its slow ascent toward the CIC.

Seconds pass in the empty elevator before Tali spoke.

"Shepard..."

"The crew is suffering because of my _failure_ as a commanding officer, Tali."

"No, John." She shook her head decisively from left to right before leaning closer to him.

"Someone has to take responsibility." His glare is leveled against the Quarian's.

"I've never met someone who could lead an entire surviving crew against an unknown and come out like this. This crew followed you and we _made_ it to safety."

Shepard's clenched teeth, channeled by his mounting stress, loosen when he placed firm fingers across his forehead.

"We aren't out of this yet." His lightly chapped lips are narrowly bitten by his teeth when they arrived to their respective floor.

As the doors opened, Tali noticed the dynamic commotion that roused around the CIC's logistic suites.

"Commander…" The Gamble of Light's Captain stood squarely at the logistics podium with his hands clasped neatly behind his back. "…It's a privilege to meet you. I wish it were under better circumstances."

"Agreed, sir." John assumed his position of attention before saluting the officer. The Quarian's disciplined military training unknowingly forced her to also stand respectively at the Captain's presence.

"At ease, soldiers. It's good to see we got you and your crew out in one piece."

The Quarian and Human visibly relaxed before stepping up next to the Captain to get a haptic view of Ullipses.

"What's the current situation, sir?" The Commander asked while placating the worried lines that crease his forehead with a silent stare at the projected view in front of them.

"Several problems." The Captain's lips sneer before continuing. "We placed our other residual force at the planet's broadside to search for you. They are in a total blackout until they reach the other side."

"You're saying they have _no idea_ what's going on?" Shepard made no effort in concealing his grimace.

"Yes. It'll be minutes before we can establish a connection with the remaining task force."

"Can we not move to them?" Shepard asked questioningly before gesturing toward the haptic simulator.

"No." He shook his head before leveling his hands across the battle map. "As you and I both know, we'd be surrendering our only strategic advantage. If anything, we'd be intercepted before we could reach them."

"We don't have the time to wait that long. But we can't leave them…" Tali spoke aloud before placing a finger along the keyboard.

"Your protégé is right, Shepard. We aren't left with many options."

"If we don't withdraw…we risk engagement with a _flagship_, Captain. If I remember correctly, the armaments of an Alliance Haklon class carrier cannot compete against the Collector's ordnance.

"Noted, Commander. That's why I'm mobilizing our fighters and corvettes as we speak. They'll buy us the time we need. Hopefully, it'll be enough of a distraction for the _Prosper of Freedom_ to surface from their blackout. Only then can we activate our FTL toward the Relay."

"What about the planet's core readouts?" Tali interjected with a small wave of her Omni-tool.

"What of it?" The Captain's face, etched with an equitable amount of concern, turned to Tali before urging the woman to continue.

"…The planet's seismic activity is rupturing its tectonic plates…but that's not all."

She wired her Omni-tools feed of data onto the CIC's haptic hologram.

"Look at Ullipses' magnetic poles…their also deteriorating."

"What does that entail exactly, Ms…?"

"Cadet Specialist Tali'Zorah." The Quarian took a moment to briefly stare at Shepard's perplexed features that plastered his face. She assumed his puzzling stare was in response to her ebbed rank she owned during her pre-pilgrimage military training.

"Continue, Cadet." The Alliance Captain nodded for her to continue.

"I'm not entirely sure…maybe it's some kind of direct core manipulation… or a concentration of dark matter energy..." She paused momentarily as she skimmed through more data. "It's almost as if this was caused by..." Her voice lowered into a sizable whisper. "...tidal forces...from a _black hole_…"

"_A black_ _hole_?" The aged man leaned closer to the Quarian while lowering his brow in a total forfeiture of understanding. "Where would this…_black hole_ be exactly, Cadet?"

She skimmed through more of the streaming information before meeting his hardened gaze with one of her own.

"In the _planet's_ _core_…" She fixated on Shepard's perturbed line of shock.

She couldn't blame him.

Her own mouth was held agape from her unexpected revelation.

"_Captain_. We need to leave. _Now_. Or we risk _everyone's life_ aboard this task force." Tali's voice almost pleaded.

"We _cannot_. We lose the Prosper of Freedom, then this rescue-op is forfeit. It's all or nothing, Cadet. We _have_ to wait. We'll move to a safe distance away from the planet; that will give us a big enough—"

"Sir! Prosper of Freedom is disengaging from their blackout! They're hailing!"

"Put them on the line, yeoman."

"Copy!"

"This is Prosper of Freedom...we're disengaging geosynchronous orbit. Break…we're reading a capital class flagship approaching on your northbound vectors…do copy?" The Captain's communication hub spits out a clear and distinguished voice from its speakers.

"That's an affirmative, Prosper. We're being engaged by the Collectors. Were on limited time. Rendezvous at alpha-tango-three-niner-niner-zero-one."

"That's a negative, Gamble of Light…Multiple contacts are rupturing from slip space. We're being engaged."

"What's their berth, Prosper?"

"Seventy clicks on our port-side. Phalanx formation…We're attempting to evade…over."

"Copy, Prosper. Do what you can, but our time is being borrowed. Commander Shepard's team is reporting that a black hole is centered in the middle of Ullipses and is growing in size. _We need to withdraw, over_."

"_Excuse_ me, Gamble? Say again, Over."

"_Withdraw_ your forces when the chance presents itself: You. Are. On. b_orrowed. Time. Over."_

_"Wilco, Gamble. Recommend you withdraw your forces. Out." _The Captain's labored breath allowed him to place his large palms on the command railing."Commander…I say this with a heavy heart…" His withered features, pallid from the draining of blood, turned to face the Spectre. "…but you and your remaining team need to prep the evacuation pods. We're withdrawing to a safe distance from the planet."

"…and what of the rest of the third fleet, Captain?" John leaned in closer with a hopeful eye before glimpsing at Tali's somber posture.

"They are thirty minutes out. They have yet to initiate FTL to our position."

Shepard's teeth bear a virulent scowl before lowering his fixation toward the floor. "How long until the collectors are on us?"

"Two minutes, Commander. Which means that escape using an FTL hyper-jump is out of the equation…" The Captain's features, acquitted with a lackluster stare, nodded to Tali before speaking to John. "I suggest you prep now, Shepard. Keep your cadet in good hands."

"Will do, Captain." The three exchange salutes before heading back into the elevator.

When their descent initiated, John spoke to her. "Tali…I want you in the engineering deck. I'll meet you when I'm done preparing the pods in the cargo bay."

She countered his meager order with a deft slice of her palm. "I don't want to separate you." Her visor, as elusive as it was, allowed the Quarian to close the gap between the two before revealing her tapered glare. "Not _now_. Not _ever_."

Two loving hands are placed on both her shoulders. "It'll only be for a moment, hun. The remaining crew needs direction. I'll send our marines up with you. Help out if you can."

"John…I can't…" Her trembling hands grip his left before pulling it close to her heart. "I just..._can't_…"

The feint tremors of launching fighters reverberate along the elevator's small cabin. The stale air, promptly saturated by Tali's pleading murmur, forced John's drenched mutter to grate uselessly along his tightening throat.

"It'll just be for a few moments, Tali. _Just a few moments_. Stop worrying." They quickly brace against each other with another loving hug.

"Okay…just…" Her voice is hashed into an inaudible note. "…just_ come back to me_."

"I _promise_."

The elevator arrived at the engineering deck to relieve the Quarian passenger.

She departed quietly before turning back around to face him with an apprehensive stare.

"Do your magic hun; I'll be back before you know it." He nodded to her for the briefest of moments before the elevator took him down into the cargo bay.

"This is the Captain speaking…" The commander's eyes intermittently stare at the speaker centered on the lift's ceiling. "…the Collectors are engaging our forward front. Preparing point-defense Guardian lasers."

The Spectre extricated himself back into the ship's cargo hold before evenly dispersing his heightened gaze around the bay's silhouetted walls.

"Stacker!" John called out with a holler as he placed a cuffed palm around his mouth. "Ash!"

"Sir!" William's approached his flank with his Platoon Sergeant close behind.

"I'm relieving you of duty here. Get the detachment and move to the engineering deck. I want you to prep those evacuation pods…"

"You're kidding me…Shepard…We're. so. _Damned._ _close_…" The Brunette's dirtied brow, furrowed by the fingers she placed on her forehead, suture into an eccentric frown. "Are you…telling me, that we're that close to losing this ship?"

"Ash…" His head lowered, but his gaze never separated. "…that's exactly what I'm saying."

Ashley's steady and measured steps, torpid with apprehension, finally tremble slightly before leaning on a consoles cold surface.

"Shepard…we have this place under control…go to Tali."

"The crew needs me, Ash. I'll get them to prepare for evac. Go. Both of you. _Now_. I'll be right behind." Shepard motioned the elevator with an outstretched thumb.

"Aye, sir…" The Gunnery Chief's harsh voice, edged with rebuke, lowered while she placed a gloved hand along his forearm.

"You come the hell back up to Engineering when you're done. You hear? For all of _us_. Don't…" Her voice, rinsed thoroughly with a gaping stare, lowered to a scornful murmur. "Don't do something _fucking_ stupid. I shouldn't have to remind you this cargo hold is _right_ in the Collector's line of fire."

"Ash. I'll be right up. _Don't. Worry_."

"For Kaiden." Her vice finally released his armored gauntlet.

"For Kaiden." His trimmed lids finally wavered when his attention returned to his battered crew.

"Normandy crew!" He shouted as his two platoon sergeants extracted themselves from the hold.

"Get in gear, and be prepped to evacuate the _Gamble of Light_."

The dirtied faces stare amongst each other at the disappointing news. From the small congregation of people, Marcus stepped out before placing a soured expression along his sweaty features.

"You're shitting me…"

"I am most certainly not, Lieutenant Grieco." Shepard's withheld stare was abbreviated by the angry yell that was forcefully rushed from the engineer's lips.

"_Fucking_ hell…" His angry complexion only intensified. His dour demeanor forced him to kick a nearby crate to the side. "How long?"

"Sixty seconds…Blue Team…Get to the engineering bay…red team stays here to prep. Ditch everything, save for the clothes and bags on your backs."

Pressly saluted Shepard before stepping off toward the elevator. "You heard the man, get moving!"

"Red team, gather round!" The remaining group huddled closely around John with hard pressed eyes.

"What are we doing, sir?"

"Why are we separating?" Grieco seemed to have cuffed his frayed emotions to the side.

"Engineering deck has maximized it occupancy." For emphasis, he turned to face the large composite windows that lead along the engineering hallway above them. "The Gamble's crew can handle themselves. We need to _stay_ _out of the way_ and prep the cargo-hold's evacuation suites." He splintered his attention by watching blue team in its entirety ascend.

"**_BraceforIMPACT_**!"

Shepard's world was knocked asunder.

Venom like hisses from decompression forced his auditory receptors to dull the thundering explosion that nearly killed half of the hold's crew. Others were sucked freely into the vacuum of space, screaming silent notes before the void sucked the remaining life from their flattened lungs.

Shepard steady grasp on a stilt allowed him to gather his senses and look around.

Many others had survived the impact of Collector weapon fire…but his crew was not so lucky.

Where seventeen of his family stood, only six remained. Among them was Grieco, with his eyes jailed shut from the bay's violent howling winds.

As quickly as the warping explosion occurred, another proceeded to lapse across the large hold.

Shepard's grip was beginning to wane.

Any remnants of cabin pressure was finally gone, leaving John to hold onto his life from the impacts the Gamble was enduring.

_There's no way…I'm going to make this…_

The Collector's ionic laser pierced through the Gamble of Light's thin hide again, and forced Shepard to let go of his last remaining pillar of hope.

He screamed.


	27. A Promise

_A/N: Have another song up! It's titled 'The End' and captures this last segment of MEDTVOL nicely. :)  
_

_I wanted to thank Exar Kun IV & 1054SS325MP for their awesome dedication to reading this story._

_Topping that, I want to give the spotlight to TheWerdna for Helping me critique my work before showing it off to the world!_

Thank you all very, very much!

Please review! I can't stress this enough!

As a writer (as many of you are along with me), it does get frustrating at times (as many can agree) when you work hard and never hear about what your readers are thinking and wondering about. Please. Just take a minute of your time to give me a dime. :) Thank you. 

* * *

_"__**Where**__ the __hell__ is he?!" Six digits harshly grasp Pressly's arms while she yelled. "Where is Shepard?! Where?!" _

_"Tali: He's gone! __**H**__e. __**I**__s. __**G**__one!" He met her fire filled gaze with one of his one. "Now get the hell in the pod! Now!" He threw his arms toward her chest before forcefully thrusting her into its embracing safety. Before she could properly react, Pressly was enveloped in a short sea of thermal ignition before being crushed under a falling support column. _

_"GO!" Pressly's impervious scream, nearly drowned by the warping hull, reiterated through a pained gripe. "GO!" _

_The short procreation of tears that blurred Tali's vision was blindingly hot. She obeyed the pained and permeating screams of Pressly's agony while gripping the vehicle's sturdy ejection handle. A quick gyrating turn of her hand severed the atmosphere's burning smoke. _

_The escaping vessel ignited its powerful jet's before thrusting it's 14 other occupants to safety. _

_The brittle Quarian fell to her knees, hands still clutched to the emergency handles. _

_"No…Nonononono…" her palsied stare is quickly accompanied by more free falling tears. "…you…you promised me…" _

_You promised me, John._

* * *

**A month later…**

**Date:2/22/2184**

**Location: Serpent Nebula/Citadel/Presidium Ring**

* * *

|3rd Columbian fleet, Task force Charlie-1|

**|Classification:****_TOP|_**

H:ACOM:sPACOM/#456:{ }— .DTA[]

**Formal AAR: (**After Action Report)

**OBSERVER: **Captain Gregg K. Yale

**PRIORTY TASKS: **Search and Rescue Operation.

Ascertain and Rehabilitate Acting Captain: Commander John A. Shepard. CID:456-76-7892JS

-Frigate Class: SSV Normandy (Light Armament RV:BD-23-78) [AC:CCEDF #: 33DEFZE9-87541JSN] _–KIA- _

**ATTENDED: **

**-**Frigate Class: SSV Prosper of Freedom (Light Armament RV:BD-23-77) [AC:CCEDF # Withheld.] _–KIA-_

**-**Capital Class: SSV Gamble of Light (Heavy Armament RV:CC-1-2) [AC:CCEDF # Withheld] _–KIA-_

**Observed Duration**: 17 Hours

**REPORT**

**_[Section 3-Subsection 2]_**

…Arrived through IEMA Relay. Responded to Distress Signal originating on Planet beacon. Assumed standard approach protocol. _Gamble of Light_ dispatched a squadron of interceptors (Commanded by Flight Lieutenant Marcelo) and one ferrying vessel (Commanded by Flight Lieutenant Gonzalez). _Prosper of Freedom_ investigated planet's blackout vector by inhibiting a gyro-synchronous orbit to search for possible targets.

Gamble of Light's diagnostic suite detected one large cruiser (Suspect of Collector) near focal point of local SOS.

Final Approach and Suppression protocol followed. Ascertained surviving Normandy Crew. (Including Non-Alliance Crew) to Ferrying Vessel. Withdrew forces on Ullipses' surface back to _Gamble of Light_. Collector Cruiser had pursued and initiated an intercept course to _Gamble of Light_.

By this time, _Prosper of Freedom_ had complete one circuit around Ullipses before discovering four slip-space ruptures 70 clicks of their starboard vector. Unknown ships (of Presumed Collector Origin) opened fire and destroyed Prosper of Freedom. No reported survivors.

During this time, all remaining interceptors and corvettes were scattered from Gamble of Light to deter Collector Cruiser bearing 580 clicks on ship's northbound vector.

Defensive technique was proved ineffective. Collector Cruiser released four salvos that destroyed the Gamble of Light. Surviving crew estimated to be 67 of original 158. SSV Normandy's crew sustained more casualties. Non-Alliance crew survived.

(Attached is a list of names)

Shortly thereafter, the 3rd Columbian fleet reinforced remaining survivors of Task Force Charlie-1. Collector forces withdrew.

By now, Ullipses in its entirety was enveloped into a black hole that originated within the planets core. Black-Hole's Half-Life superseded known theories of Hawking Radiation. Shortly after Ullipses was ingested, the black-hole dissipated. Suspect of 'worm-hole'.

Extensive investigation is still pending.

**_End _**_of AAR…_

_Delivered by: _Captain Gregg K. Yale

* * *

**2/22/2184**

**Location: Serpent Nebula/Citadel/Presidium Ring**

* * *

Artificial UV rays, enshrined with the pale colors of cloudy white, shroud the presidium's lusterless glare of metal architecture. The Quarian's evanescent glare continued to stare upon the eulogy that was given by Anderson. A small statue, the SSV Normandy, flanked by the Plaque of names lost, was finally revealed to the small congregation of mourners.

She paid the bitten speech no mind. Her heart was deflated…and empty void of massless ice…a weight she knew she'd carry for the rest of her years. She couldn't muster another tear…the past month was a constant procreation of them…a blinding of already swollen blood-red eyes.

The Asari that neighbored her wary posture placed a comforting hand upon her shoulder. It was an attempt to soothe her wounded core with physical proximity.

Liara's touch was cold…and she wished for it to be removed. But she paid that sensation no mind either…

Denial…

…it was denial, Tali concluded.

Some crude fabrication that built from her stricken heart to abstain from the inevitable.

_He wasn't coming back. _

Ever.

Her glowing eyes, unwavering, finally closed, leaving a blank and unremarkable visor to completely subdue her already limited features.

* * *

Stick around for one more section. The Epilogue will be up later.


	28. Epilogue

**|Epilogue|**

**|Date: 12/8/2183|**

**|Location: The Vacuum of Space.|**

* * *

His oxygen reserves were minutes away from coughing empty.

One of the _worst_ ways he ever wanted to go, he mused quietly to himself.

He had, after being sucked through the breach of the capital ship, made it his sole objective to survive for as long as he could.

The ship Gonzalez had attempted to rescue his crew with had also made it into the vast expanse of empty space.

His link of salvation had earned a smile from Shepard's labored breaths.

When he had used his space suits air-compressing jets to heave him into the ship, he had found out that the swift attack, _much_ to his dismay, put the Alliance ferrying vessel permanently out of commission.

It looked as if he was doomed...

He knew it.

Regardless, he clambered inside the ship's embracing safety before closing the thick hatch behind him.

The man held his docile stare for what seemed to be an eternity before reflecting on his last moments with his crew.

He wept again. This time, it was alone. There was no shoulder to lean on. No one to reach out for hope and reassurance. No comforting hand to pull him from the darkness that consumed him.

For all he knew, everyone was dead...His breaths came in mighty heaves while he placed his palms along the grooves of his helmet.

"No...nonono..." The miscellaneous items that floated in vacuity occasionally bumped into the man. He threw every object that touched him across the hull.

He cursed himself for making promises he'd never get to fulfill.

He cleared his head and knew that his last moments should be spent digging for a way to give out a last message even if the others didn't survive.

His haptic tool that wrapped around his wrist turned on. _His trembling fingers, contempt with furry and anguish press the record button. _

_A Sharp inhale was heard._

"_Commander John Shepard, Acting Captain of the SSV Normandy, Log...843." Another sharp inhale. "I decided to record this message in the event that someone does eventually discover my remains." _

_He gasps for air now. _

"_I am directing this to my entire crew." Some metal grating can be heard in the background as his breath becomes thin._

"_Thank you...Your Sacrifice and unshakable spirit will always remain in your heart and soul. It was an honor to stand side-by side with my crew, to lead, to fight, and cherish. _

_He chokes violently. _

"_I don't...have much time…"_

_Words through his mouth become hard to pronounce. Oxygen deprivation tolls his agonizing thoughts. But he pushed as hard as he could to make his words meaningful...no matter how empty and docile they sounded. _

"Tali…you have given me so much to look forward to in my life…I'm so sorry I won't be joining you in the end…and I'm sorry I won't be able to fulfill..._anyofmypromises_."

A slight sob escapes from his lips as he continues.

"Thank you...Tali…for _everything_…You live _happy_, **long**, and...**W**ell…oka**y**?" His whispered voice is hoarse and barely above a whisper.

"Everything will work out in the end, Tali…take my word for it…for my sake…you _must._ _**move**._ on…"

Another raspy grasp for air.

"Don't you let me down…God do I regret not letting you know how I've felt…Tali…I'm so sorry this is how it ends...Tali…I love you..." _A loud high pitched alarm had interrupted man's dying words. _

_The pointless warning alerted him that Oxygen asphyxiation was beginning to task his brain to capacity._

_ He choked dangerously and let his lips relax as his eyes turn glossy._

"_Tali...I..." _

His trembling hands and tired eyes relax for the final time.


	29. Epilogue II

A/N: Well, MED:TVOL is done, friends!

It was a grand Adventure, however short...but it was very worth it.

All of your reviews and critiques were very appreciated and I was _very_ pleased with the turn out.

**But the adventure isn't over!**

Head on over to _Mass Effect Trepidation: Superlative Acquisition_ (MET:SA)! That's the next segment to this story for those who don't already know!

_**It picks up right where we left off in MED:TVOL.**_

Don't just stand there! Get reading!

-Narcrotic

_*I'd like to give one more acknowledgement to the Following:_

**Exar Kun IV-** Your reviews were great and very helpful in your critiquing! (I'll be looking around your stories.)

**1054SS325MP**- I'd like to give a salute to MP for reviewing my story and giving my positive critiques! Check out his story Warrior Ethos when you get the chance! Brilliantly crafted!

**mivpus**-Reviews helped me a lot, man. I appreciate all the kind words and words of encouragement. Thank you.

**TheWerdna**: Helped make this all possible. Edited and helped selected the music I created for MEDTVOL. He also has his own story! Check out his profile when you get the chance!

**Suffering Soldier**-Although the reviews were seldom, they didn't lack any kind of quality in the words you gave me. Thank you!

**A2C2G-**Your Questions made me laugh and the gift of words were great to hear. Thank you!


	30. An Apology

I would like to make a severe apology to everyone...

The past three weeks...a lot of stuff happened, and put everything on total pause.

I mean...guys, it was freaking bad. I'd tell you, but I don't want to make you guys depressed too. Or angry. Mainly angry.

It made me angry. I'm still angry about it as a matter of fact. But, things are finally blowing over and I'm starting to heal and feel a bit better.

Now, before you freak out, the answer is NO. I am not abandoning anything. This story to me is too precious.

It was just on hold. But I'm writing again and maybe I'll release a chapter later this weekend or next week. We'll see.

Count on me guys. I'm back. :)


	31. AN

**A/N:**

**DATE: 4/21/2013 **

* * *

Wow...It's been over a month since I've updated.

And boy have I been busy...especially with music making.

Don't fret though. I've been working on everything still. It's just been going a little bit slower than usual.

Just stick with me. :)

Believe me when I say that I'm excited to get MET:SA's leg's to finally stretch when Shepard get back on his damned feet. :D

I'm going to go slightly AU on MET:SA, but keep Mass Effect's story at its core. Just remember that this story is incorporating the 'Dark Matter' theory. :D

I'll have another chapter up and available to you all soon. :)

Thanks for patiently waiting.

-Narcrotic


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